


Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

by TheWritingDork



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: AKA Jere gets into his reflection's world where the SQUIP did take over, Also I can't believe I havent added this but I saw it in the tags when typing SQUIP BUT:, Alternate Universe - Michael Has a Squip, Alternate Universe Hopping, Anxiety Attacks, Emotional Manipulation, Freeform - Reflected World, Freeform - Switching Worlds, In the other world the events of BMC played out differently and that'll be explained as time goes on, M/M, Physical Manipulation, Post-Canon, SQUIP Manipulation, Trans Jeremy Heere, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-07-06 04:48:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15878874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWritingDork/pseuds/TheWritingDork
Summary: Ever since the SQUIPcident, Jeremy's reflection has been 'glitching' sometimes, showing him his worst fear: he's still SQUIPed and is under it's control and influence. He's confided in a select few about this, Christine when they were dating for a month, Rich since he had a SQUIP for a while like he did, and Michael, his Player One and boyfriend for the past three months.During one June night, however, it really 'glitches' to the point where Jeremy's whole world is seemingly reflected into a new hell that he only had nightmares about: he's stuck in a world where the SQUIP won, and nearly everyone is SQUIPed.





	1. Prologue: Summer Heat

**Author's Note:**

> I've been itching to write something more than a one-shot, and I saw a prompt on Tumblr that inspired me! Maybe some of you have figured it out from the summary. c; Either way, please enjoy this introduction/prologue of sorts!!!

The sticky, hot weather of summer was nearly unbearable to all inhabitants of New Jersey, especially to one Heere, Jeremy. Sprawled out onto his bedsheets in only his boxers and a thin tank top, he groaned in sweaty agony as his AC blasted and his fans (yes, multiple) blew cool air across his lanky form. His hair was practically drenched, and he finally decided that he had stored up enough energy to get up and stagger to his bathroom to clean himself momentarily from this sweaty hell. 

Stripping off his gross clothes, he quickly looked at himself in the mirror, frowning as he leaned closer to inspect his worsening acne. Thanks to his oily skin glistening and mixing with his sweat, he was breaking out worse than normal. He groaned as he inspected himself carefully, making sure there weren’t too many gross red spots.

Looking at himself so closely in the mirror set him up to be startled by the sudden change to near-perfect skin littered with not only his faint freckles, but blue marks that resembled that of circuitry. He jumped back, nearly unable to contain the scream from the sudden change. His appearance in his reflection seemed to stare more intently back at him, though that may have been from the unnatural neon blue glow to his eyes that he saw. Jeremy let out a shaking sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, watching as it seemed to perfectly flop back in the mirror before it shifted back to his nude, sticky form that he originally saw. 

Ever since the SQUIPcident (he didn’t come up with it, Rich did, but it seemed to stick) the previous year, he had these hallucinations from time-to-time in the mirror—seeing himself in this way, as if the SQUIP had never been defeated, as if he had been taken over by that damned thing. He didn’t tell many people about it except for Christine—since they had been dating when it started, even if it only lasted for a month—and Rich—he had dealt with the SQUIP for years, so he hoped that he would be able to give some insight to this (something Rich unfortunately was not able to do). Oh, and of course he told Michael, his Player One, about this.

The first time this had happened was when he was staying over at Michael’s house. They had their first sleepover since the hell of the SQUIPcident passed, and he had decided to use their gaming break as a bathroom break. He nearly had a panic attack from seeing himself with glowing blue eyes and circuitry seemingly leaking from his eyes. Thankfully, Michael ran in and was able to help him calm down and talk everything out. They had helped each other out through anxiety and panic attacks, and this, even if more intense than any previous attacks, was no different.

Just because he dealt with it every so often didn’t make it any easier or any less unsettling. With a deep sigh passing his lips, he decided that his shower was definitely what he needed, to more than clean the sweat off his body. After that, though, he knew he couldn’t be alone.

\--

“Hey, at least the appearances of your SQUIPflection aren’t as frequent anymore,” Michael reasoned before taking another long sip from his slurpee. The pair were currently lounging in Michael’s basement, each with a large fan blowing cool air onto them. After the incident with his ‘SQUIPflection,’ Jeremy had called his best friend, and now boyfriend of three months, to vent before being taken on an impromptu trip to their favorite Seven-Eleven (yes, there were a few in their town and had preferences) to help him cool down and relax. 

Jeremy pursed his lips as he rested his head against Michael’s shoulder, partially covered by the strap of his tank top. “Yeah, I guess… The image of it gets worse every time though, like I’m more infected every time with more of that weird glowing circuit shit on my face. Hell, I swore I saw my fingernails even glowing that neon blue.” Thinking about it again made him shudder before drinking his own slurpee. Normally, he’d get his blue raspberry, but he had seen too much bright blue for the day and needed a change, so he settled for Coca-Cola instead. Not as good, but it didn’t freak him out as much.

He felt fingers run though his curly locks, instantly helping him calm down, especially when said fingers were also gently rubbing circles into his head. “Mm… Do you have any idea what’s causing this? Maybe it’s stemming from some of the PTSD ‘ya got from all that horseshit.” 

“That’s the only thing that makes sense, but I thought all the coping techniques would help with that,” Jeremy sighed out, pouting up at Michael. His pout only vanished when the other boy kissed said pout away. 

After letting the soft kiss linger for a few moments, Michael drew back so Jeremy could comfortably rest his head on his shoulder. “I wish I knew how to help you more, Jere. The only thing I could offer is that it might go away. Hell, the last time you saw your SQUIPflection was a month ago, right?”

“Yes, and I wish you’d stop calling it that.”

“So that means it the times between seeing it may draw out more and eventually go away,” Michael continued, ignoring his boyf’s wishes completely, “And it’s been appearing less and less, so that might just mean that what you’re doing is working, slowly but surely. Plus, the trauma of some incidents never go away completely.”

The shorter of the pair sighed before burrowing his face into the crook of Michael’s neck. “Why do you always have to have good insight?”

He felt the fingers return to his hair, allowing him to relax again as he shut his eyes. “One of us has to, y’know, especially since you’re the brains of the operation.” Jeremy wanted to disagree, but he was too hot and tired to mutter out some kind of rebuttal. Instead, he just hummed softly against the tan skin and shut his eyes to savor this moment.

“Would stealing some ice cream from upstairs help you calm down more?” Michael offered after a few beats of silence.

“Only if we still have some Ben and Jerry’s, because the store-brand Stop n’ Shop could never compare.” Jeremy smiled at the bark of laughter that came from Michael.

He felt a kiss pressed against his sweaty locks before hearing, “Yeah, nothing can compare to the gods of ice cream.”

\--

Jeremy was honest to god sure that he wouldn’t see his glitching reflection (he refused to refer to it as a SQUIPflection, no matter how much Michael tried to convince him to) for at least another month, but Lady Luck decided against such a thing. He had decided to stay the night with Michael, too tired to go home. Plus, his dad was away on a business trip for the week and after the incident of today, he was not sleeping alone. 

The two spent most of the day cooling down after downing the last liter of Peanut Butter World, going into Michael’s backyard to their small pool once his Riend’s moms reassured them that it was clean. They had to wait until near the end of the day to go in since cleaning out the leaves and everything in the pool took forever, but Jeremy refused to ever go out in public to the pool due to his intense self-consciousness and the chance of his dysphoria flaring up around strangers. 

Right now, it was one in the morning, the heat wave seeming to finally subside. The two had passed out in bed, wearing as little as possible only because of the former heat. Even with the heat present, they had instinctively curled up against each other, Jeremy’s head resting against Michael’s chest with their legs intertwined. The skinnier boy’s arm was raised as he checked his phone, having ‘night shift’ on so the light wasn’t too blaring in an attempt to not wake the sleeping boy of the pair. 

As he finished checking his social media feeds, he felt the need to go to the bathroom. With a soft grumble, he managed to untangle and detach himself from Michael’s soothing grasp, pulling himself off of the bed. He glanced back when he heard a soft whine pass the other boy’s lips, smiling when he saw him grasping where Jeremy was moments ago. It took all he had not to chuckle at how adorable the other was and return into his grasp, though the motivation to rush to the bathroom quickly overtook that.

It didn’t take long, and as he washed his hands, he swore he felt a chill go down his spine. ‘Maybe it’s just because the AC’s at full blast and I’m not sweating my ass off now,’ was what Jeremy reasoned until he looked up, drying his hands off with the hand towel and staring at his reflection. He nearly yelped at seeing that damned glitched version of himself, his grip near deathly on the fabric in his hands. Although he felt a mix of emotions at seeing this thing, he certainly didn’t feel what his reflection was giving off—longing? No… jealousy?

Just seeing that in this nightmare version of himself in the mirror seemed to set something off inside of him. His anger bubbled underneath, and he couldn’t help but vent this frustration out at his reflection, thankful that the bathroom in the basement was somewhat soundproof so he wouldn’t wake Michael, at least not instantly.

He was so heated, eyes shut in anger, that he didn’t notice his reflection stop mimicking him as he began ranting.

“Look, I don’t know why the fuck you keep appearing, but you’re gone. The SQUIP is gone. I don’t give a fuck if this is some PTSD thing I can’t fully understand, you need to leave me alone! I-I’m sick of the reminders, especially whenever I look in the fucking mirror! I’m just starting to get comfortable again and I… I don’t need you fucking it all up!” 

His breathing was heavy as he rested his hands against the cool sink counter, realizing now that he was vigorously talking with them. He tried to focus on his breathing, calming himself down until he heard someone talk, and it wasn’t Michael, like he’d think it would be.

“Maybe it is for you.”

Chills were sent down his spine as he looked up at his reflection, eyes wide as he saw it wasn’t mimicking his own position. Its lips were pursed with sorrow and jealousy in its eyes, and it was obvious his reflection… his reflection had just spoken to him. Instead, the hand with neon blue glowing nails and the imprint of said blue circuitry pressed against the mirror’s surface. Seeing how it pressed against the mirror like it was glass was what seemingly set the boy off, his breathing stemming to something out of control. 

The knock on the door didn’t help, making him and his reflection jump as both looked over to where the noise came from. “Jere? Are you OK?” Worry came from Michael’s voice from the other side of the door, albeit it was glazed over with a sleepy tone as well. 

Before Jeremy himself could respond, his reflection seemed to beat him to the punch. “I’m fine, I’ll be out in a few.” Warm blue eyes locked onto the unnaturally blue in his reflection, eyes narrowing now in irritation. “Don’t worry.”

“Mm… Alright.” Even if Michael’s tone showed he wasn’t convinced, Jeremy could hear his footsteps patter away, back to the bed.

Jeremy’s glare never left his reflection, however, as it turned back to him. If his blood was boiling before, he had no clue what it was doing now. Was it instantly evaporating? “I don’t know what the fuck is going on and what you really are, but you fucking leave Micah out of this.”

“Would you have been able to even compose out something to stop him from coming in, though?” Just because his reflection (honestly, he was sure this wasn’t his reflection at this point, but he didn’t know what the hell else to call it right now) was right didn’t mean he didn’t have the right to be pissed. 

Of course, he was still pissed, walking right up to the counter, as close as he could get without marking up his stomach against the edge, and pointed right at the thing in the mirror before practically spitting out, “You better fucking leave Michael alone, and leave me the fuck alone, got it?!” At his last few words, he pointed his hand against the mirror, prodding at where his finger would meet that thing’s hand.

And that was his fatal mistake.

What happened next was near impossible to describe, but the closest thing Jeremy could think of is feeling like his whole world and perspective was flipped one-eighty as he was suddenly overwhelmed with the neon blue his SQUIP gave. Blinking his eyes a few times to clear out the color, he looked back at the mirror, seeing that everyone was seemingly the same except for that flipped feeling. 

Actually, it was more than a feeling. Looking around Michael’s bathroom, everything felt like it was shifted one-eighty, including the room and how it was made itself. The toilet, shower head, and sink were all to the door’s left instead of the right like normal. His anxiety that still burned in his belly started to flare up at this change, and he looked back at the mirror to see a different reaction from that thing. 

Its eyes were wide, staring around and seemingly smiling as it realized something he didn’t. What this other Jeremy realized hit Jeremy hard as he heard the bathroom door knock and Michael’s voice calling for him one last time, but it wasn’t from his door.

It was from the door on the other side of the mirror.

“Jere? Are you really sure you’re OK?” the voice of his boyfriend asked, any traces of sleepiness nearly gone and near fully replaced with the worry evident beforehand. Both Jeremy boys started at the door, and relief seemed to spread across the fake Jeremy’s face (was he a fake? Jeremy considered him that because he was the Jeremy that was supposed to be there, reassuring him that he was fine and going back to cuddle with him!) as he called out to him.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I’m coming right now.” 

The thing Jeremy noticed was that the blue that encompassed the fake Jeremy (Feremy? Fake and Jeremy combined? Ugh, this was why he didn’t come up with the nicknames) faded away, the circuitry no longer present and his nails no longer glowing as he looked to him with a mixture of sorrow and something he couldn’t quite place in his panicked state.

“No, wait—” Before he could finish, he saw the other Jeremy walk off screen of sorts. A beat passed before his reflection, his actual reflection, took his place, showing his frazzled state of being.

A knock was actually present outside this bathroom door, causing him to jump as he turned to face the door. Shit, he had no idea what this place held. It was that other Jeremy’s world, and he… well, he was honestly fucked.


	2. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking a deep breath in… then out… Jeremy decided to face this weird world and figure out what was going on. Maybe this Michael knew about the SQUIP and just hadn’t gotten Mountain Dew Red yet to fix him. Did that even sound plausible? Not really, but he needed something to calm him down as he went to the door and opened it.
> 
> Any thoughts he could have formulated were instantly thrown out the window, the anxiety flaring up to the point where he nearly had a panic attack when he saw something he’d never even dreamed of before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, I didn't expect to have this out so soon but thanks to no college classes today, I was able to churn this sucker out. Sorry this chapter's a little short, but it's more so setting up before real plot and explanations get introduced! Despite it being a shorter chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless. <333

Jeremy turned to face the door that he heard the knock from, taking in a deep breath before he heard Michael’s voice call out, “Jeremy, are you alright?”

Even if he was in Michael’s house, he was still surprised to hear Michael’s voice. After all, the SQUIP had wanted to block out (and did, regrettably) Michael, so wouldn’t this weird SQUIPed version in this weird place not have Michael around him? 

“Yeah, sorry for taking so long.” Taking a deep breath in… then out… Jeremy decided to face this weird world and figure out what was going on. Maybe this Michael knew about the SQUIP and just hadn’t gotten Mountain Dew Red yet to fix him. Did that even sound plausible? Not really, but he needed something to calm him down as he went to the door and opened it.

Any thoughts he could have formulated were instantly thrown out the window, the anxiety flaring up to the point where he nearly had a panic attack when he saw something he’d never even dreamed of before. Michael was standing there, looking relieved as he stepped out, his warm eyes glowing an eerie neon red, circuitry seemingly littering him like Feremy (yup, he was settled down on that shitty nickname). 

“It’s not a problem, you just don’t normally take so long. Did I interrupt something?” ‘Michael’ asked, wiggling his brows with a teasing grin. It would’ve felt so normal and right if it wasn’t for that damn red, showing that this obviously wasn’t his Michael, this was a SQUIPed Michael. 

Jeremy did his best to laugh it off, rolling his eyes before playfully pushing at the other’s shoulder. He did his best to hide that he felt something akin to static shock when he did that against the bare skin, though he wasn’t sure if he fooled this ‘Michael’ (shit, would he call him Fichael? No, that was too stupid, it didn’t work as well as Feremy). “Dear god no. I may be the most hypersexual twink you know, but I wasn’t in there for that.” Hopefully they talked like they normally did. He was just playing off of what he was given, and while he wasn’t always the best at the improv games they did in his acting class, he hoped it was enough for now.

If ‘Michael’ noticed anything off, he didn’t mention it or show it. “Yeah, I guess not.” He shrugged it off before heading back over to his bed across the basement, Jeremy letting a sigh of relief pass while ‘Michael’ couldn’t perceive it. His body followed, and his thoughts were processing at a mile a minute in the next few seconds that passed.

‘OK, so Michael is SQUIPed here. If he’s SQUIPed and the other me is too, does that mean everyone else is too? Did the SQUIP win? Shit, am I still dating Christine here? I gotta just go along with everything, act like I’m still SQUIPed. Shit, I can’t glow and shit like the other me. Is that a normal thing here? Fuck—’ 

“You coming to bed?” interrupted his anxious thoughts, and his eyes jerked over to look at ‘Michael,’ lying in bed with the red glow that was starting to fade. In the fading light, he could see the Pac-Man comforter raised, inviting Jeremy to join him as he held an inviting smile on his lips.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” The skinny male quickly scurried over, getting under the sheets and nestling against ‘Michael’ like he would with his own Michael. The other responded like his own would, wrapping his arms gently around his waist and intertwining their legs together. He even ran his hand gently against a spot on his back, something done to make sure he didn’t have his binder when he fell asleep to hurt himself. He was so much like his Michael that it hurt, and he wondered what the hell happened in this reality to have this part of his life be the same as his own. Was Feremy dating Michael in this world? How did this all work out? Wasn’t he supposed to be aiming to date Christine with the SQUIP?

Despite his mind buzzing with worry, he felt his exhaustion from freaking out and sleep, since he originally was just planning on going to the bathroom briefly, take over, lulling him into a blissfully unaware world, if only for a few hours.

\--

On the other side, however, Michael was more vocal about noticing that something was off with Jeremy. After all, since it took a lot of time and healing to get back to being best friends, they made a pact to be more vocal about their issues and when they noticed something was wrong with the others. Also, how the hell did his skin suddenly clear up so nicely?

“Are you sure you’re alright?” He had made a joke, much like ‘Michael’ had, about what he’d been doing in the bathroom. Instead of instantly getting some snarky response, he noticed the other flinch for a beat before giving a response, one that seemed too… off to be Jeremy. Whenever he would see Jeremy flinch now because of something he’d said, it was because of some phantom SQUIP feelings. Apparently, his SQUIP had forced him to do a pushup for every time he thought about sex, which must have been hell for a horny dog like Jeremy.

Instead of admitting to said phantom feelings like he always did, the other just insisted that he was fine. “I guess it’s just a chill since the AC’s running so high and the fans are on high.” 

Michael just pursed his lips, thinking clearly now since his worry from earlier pushed aside his tired feelings. “Is it, y’know—” Michael tapped his temple twice “—acting up again?”

Confusion passed ‘Jeremy’s’ face for a brief second before he seemingly tried to laugh it off. “What? No, don’t worry about it Micah. Can we just go back to bed?”

Of course, Michael was a stubborn, petty shit, he sighed as he passed the lankier boy to get to his mini fridge. Squatting down, he opened it and pulled out one of the many Mountain Dew Reds that he kept stocked for whenever Jeremy’s SQUIP flared up too much. “Just for my sake, please drink some of this. Seeing your SQUIPflection today might’ve had your SQUIP flare up.” 

OK, the confusion lingered on ‘Jeremy’s’ face as he stared at the chilled soda bottle before Michael saw something that scared the shit out of him—neon blue taking over the other’s eyes, his skin glowing with the same blue circuitry. The last time he’d seen something like that was when the SQUIP overtook Jeremy to fight him off during the play.

‘Shit, did Jere accidentally drink some Dew recently?’

That was the only thought that passed his mind as ‘Jeremy’ reached for the bottle, cracked it open, and dumped the contents out, ruining the carpet for sure as it soaked in. In the split seconds that followed, ‘Jeremy’ made a break for Michael’s mini fridge, something Michael dived in front of as he struggled to grab ‘Jeremy’ with one arm and get another bottle of Red out and open with his other arm. Shit, he forgot how wriggly the other could be and why he originally tried calling to Jake to help him all those months ago.

After struggling for a few seconds, Michael managed to roll himself on top of ‘Jeremy’ and pin him down, holding both hands down with one of his own. As he straddled the other, he made sure he had a good grip on the bottle of Red before opening the bottle with his teeth. It took a few times, especially since the other was struggling with building strength, but he finally managed to get it open.

“Sorry about this, Jere,” was what he muttered out as he spit the cap out and forced Jeremy to drink the discontinued soda. He grimaced as ‘Jeremy’ seemed to choke on the drink for a moment, coughing some of it up. Thankfully, the boy managed to drink some, his struggling stopping as his expression blanked, much like how Christine had done when Jeremy coerced her into drinking Red during the play. “…Jeremy?”

He was freaking out because every time Jeremy’s had Red since the play, he would have the SQUIP fade out and carry a headache for a few hours at most. This was reminding him too much of the play, especially when ‘Jeremy’ started to cry out like he did during the play. Panic overtook Michael as he brought the boy close to him, no longer pinning him down in any sense, trying to help as best as he could and to partially muffle what sounded like a scream of bloody murder in the fabric of his tank. 

‘Jeremy’s’ screams rang out for a few seconds before he just collapsed against Michael. OK, if he wasn’t wide awake before, the taller boy surely was now. He glanced towards the basement doorway, waiting to see if either of his moms woke up and came down. For once, he was glad they were heavy sleepers when neither came down.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he gently scooped up ‘Jeremy’ in his arms, getting into bed with him as he watched over him. His mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what the hell was going on because he knew this wasn’t his Jeremy. Was this all related to the SQUIPflection? 

Hell, this boy looked a lot like the version Jeremy would tell him about in the mirror, especially when he started glowing. Thankfully, that glowing stopped after he downed some Red, but it still haunted him as he continued to lie down, waiting for ‘Jeremy’ to wake up so he could figure all of this shit out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be pleasant wait, and he was going to hate everything he heard from Feremy (hey, he was a fake Jeremy, so it worked).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More plot will be explained soon, I promise! You'll all be caught up to speed next chapter (hopefully). Also, I wanted to know if I should focus one chapter on Jeremy in Feremy's world and the next on Michael (or Feremy) in Jeremy's world, or if they should be split in chapters like this? Obviously, there'll be more than one scene per chapter for each if that happened, but this chapter is just unique like that. :p 
> 
> Whatever you guys decide, the next chapter will for sure have Feremy explaining to Michael what the heck is going on to him! 
> 
> Again, please comment and give kudos, it feeds my lifeblood as a sophomore in college so I don't collapse. <3


	3. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright, so should I explain myself first or you answer m-my questions first?”
> 
> “Explain yourself first, I might be able to answer your questions along the way,” Michael said near instantly, unconsciously gripping at his comforter to hold onto while he couldn’t help but stress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This is a very explanation-heavy chapter with a lot of dialogue (aka the reason for this chapter's title LOL). This chapter is in Jeremy's world with Michael and Feremy, and I think I'm going to try out swapping each chapter between each 'world.' This chapter also just is basically (???) one scene, so there aren't any breaks until the veeeeery end for a brief... thing. >;3c
> 
> Also, if you wanna talk BMC/Boyf riends/this fic with me, talk to me on my tumblr! It's michaelmellancholy.tumblr.com. I'm also looking for a beta-reader/editor for this, and it'll help me get my fic out faster because I'm so busy with college classes and work. Currently, I'm thinking I'm not gonna have a set update schedule, but I'm gonna /try/ every weekend if possible, but homework comes first!
> 
> Please enjoy! :D

Michael couldn’t fall asleep until late, and he wasn’t sleeping heavily either thanks to his flaring anxiety. To try to combat his anxiety, he put on his headphones and listened to one of his many playlists he made to help in trying times like these. Thankfully, it distracted him until the sun rose, which was when Feremy started to wake up.

Honestly, he was surprised that he was already awake. Jeremy had been out way longer when he deactivated his SQUIP, though different people take different amounts of time to recover, right? Well, he was sure they were somehow the same person, but being awake for 30 hours definitely messes with your ability to think and process information.

He hadn’t let go of Feremy the entire time he had been asleep, holding him close and against his chest. Thanks to that, he felt his head begin to shift as he started to wake. His gaze shifted from the ceiling where his eyes lazed over without purpose to the boy, his face holding concern for the moment being. “Hey… Are you OK?”

Michael didn’t get a response right away, and he was beginning to think that Feremy had only shifted in his sleep until he got a response. “It… it’s gone…” If he hadn’t gone through something similar to this before like he had with Jeremy, his concern would have worsened. “The SQUIP, i-it’s gone. It’s gone!” 

The boy practically leaped out of Michael’s hold before stopping suddenly. He turned around, hands gripping into Michael’s more tender arms as his look of joy changed to that of serious nature. “How did you know what turned off the SQUIP? How did you figure it out? Yo—my Michael didn’t ever know how to do that.”

“Woah woah, OK, we’re going to take a lot of steps back and take a nice, long breather.” The taller of the two gently removed Feremy’s hands from his arms, surprised by how strong and solid his grip was at first. “I am currently running on no sleep after being awake for almost a day and a half. We are going to get food in our systems first and we’re going to have a serious talk, got it?” While Feremy was serious because of something good happening, Michael was because of his worry, confusion, and frustration, a terrible combination when you’re hungry and sleep deprived. Thanks to said hunger and sleep deprivation, however, the last statement went in one ear and our the other, metaphorically speaking.

With wide eyes, Feremy just nodded before fiddling with his fingers. He seemed surprised that he was able to do that, as he flinched before actually doing it. “OK, s-sorry.” Again, another flinch before he relaxed again. Both of these were things that Jeremy had undergone shocks for due to his SQUIP’s ‘corrective treatment’ and eventually was able to somewhat subdue, so it was painful to see it fresh, even if it wasn’t actually his Jeremy. This was still Jeremy though, just another version that struggled for so much longer with a SQUIP… 

Michael was pulled from his thoughts when Feremy spoke up. “I’ll make you something, you should rest and try to get some sleep.” He seemed to want to say his name, but hesitated. Well, he wasn’t his Michael, so that made sense.

The taller boy wanted to argue, but his Pac-Man comforter being tucked around him allowed his exhaustion to hit him. He didn’t even realize that he had fallen asleep until he was gently poked on the cheek by a cold finger. A groan passed his lips as he curled up where he lied, pouting. For a minute, he forgot about the weird as hell situation at hand. “Mm… Jere, five more minutes…”

Only when he was gently shaken by his shoulder did he open his eyes, taking in the sight of Feremy since he fell asleep wearing his glasses. Oh, right, this wasn’t Jeremy. Jeremy was who the fuck knows where and this other version of him was here. He had to internally shake off the tight feeling in his chest as he sat up, rubbing at his eye under his glasses. “Uh, thanks, um…”

“I know calling me Jeremy might be weird since I’m, well, n-not you’re Jeremy. Maybe just call me Jeremiah? I don’t like it as much as Jeremy, but it might help us?”

Nodding to that, Michael stretched his arms above his head to help wake himself up more. “OK, and, uh… I grew out of ‘Mikey’ as a nickname, but calling me that might help you?” The other nodded as well before sitting down on the bed, seemingly unsure on how they should be settled.

A sigh passed Michael’s lips before he patted beside himself. “I know this is weird, but it’s fine… I think.” Jeremiah (OK, even if wasn’t too helpful, it was a good distinction for Michael and not too far of a stretch for his still-exhausted brain) hesitated before sitting down in the spot, giving Michael his plate of food. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” With that, they sat in a semi-awkward silence, though there was a lingering comfort because, even if they weren’t each other’s other half, they still knew a lot about each other before things differed, right? Thankfully, they weren’t the kind to pick at their food, so they finished rather quickly.

Once all of the plates were put back onto the tray Jeremiah had found and was placed to the side, they sat down on the bed in a better position to look at one another without any effort or strain. “Alright, so should I explain myself first or you answer m-my questions first?”

“Explain yourself first, I might be able to answer your questions along the way,” Michael said near instantly, unconsciously gripping at his comforter to hold onto while he couldn’t help but stress. Noticing this, Jeremiah just nodded as he took a deep breath. “Just… start from when you first heard about the SQUIP, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Most of what Jeremiah talked about were things Jeremy had told him as they were rebuilding their friendship. Being cornered by Rich, getting the pill at Payless, the SQUIP activating in the mall, play rehearsal, being almost seduced by Brooke before running into Michael in the hall when he needed a break from the voices in his head. Everything matched up with what Jeremy told him, but running into Michael was where things began to differ in a way that almost scared him.

“—After it admitted to blocking my Michael out, it started to tell me about how I needed to drop him before stopping and seemingly computing something. Then the SQUIP told me that he could be with me as long as he got a SQUIP too. My Michael was so caught up in the idea of it actually working that when I offered and explained how it could help with other things besides popularity, he… he seemed to consider it. I didn’t know what he wanted help with at the time.

“I ended up getting him a SQUIP the next day, and I think the SQUIPs we both had synched u—”

“Wait, so your SQUIP told you to get your Michael to stay with you?” Michael stared at Jeremiah in disbelief, still shocked when the boy nodded in response.

“Y-yeah, that’s why I was so surprised earlier when you knew how to get rid of the SQUIP. He had no clue about that, and I honestly had no clue. I swear that I was starting to lose it because I’ve been wanting that thing out f-for so long… My Rich has isolated himself and apparently lost it before being sent to a mental hospital because he’s been trying to get it out since Halloween.” Jeremiah’s arms wrapped around himself. Michael could easily see that he was starting to shake. “I… I was scared that I was going there next because I felt like I was truly going crazy too…”

As the last few words escaped Jeremiah’s lips, darker arms surrounded the pale boy into a reassuring hold. A few seconds passed as the shorter of the pair rested his forehead against the other’s shoulder, unable to help the tears that fell. The taller boy did his best to reassure him, doing what he would normally do for his Jeremy as he whispered reassuring words to him. Throughout this pause in explaining everything, he heard Jeremiah whispering out breathless words of gratitude that seemed unending. 

Once Jeremiah had calmed down and reassured Michael he was alright to continue, he sat back. A comforting arm was slung over his shoulders, and he hesitated for a moment before resting his head on the other’s shoulder before continuing. “I was originally supposed to date Brooke to get further along the popularity chain, but I think our SQUIPs syncing up changed that and decided to delay the upgrade for the time being. We were both also supposed to rise up in the chain together, so Brooke and I ended up just becoming good friends. 

“Instead of getting together with Brooke, my SQUIP said that I should try to get together with my Michael after seeing more of my interactions with Christine. At first, I didn’t realize that the feelings I held for Chrstine were, w-well… They were for my Michael, but I didn’t want to ruin our-our friendship and decided to idealize her and push those feelings onto her.” Michael just nodded in understanding. Jeremy had admitted a similar thing to him, but that didn’t stop his heart from fluttering a little.

“After that, well…” Jeremiah fiddled with his fingers as he stared down at his lap. It was a nervous habit he shared with his Jeremy, and it definitely showed that the SQUIP’s hold dissipated. It made Michael miss Jeremy even more. “Well, it changed my goal from being popular and getting together with Christine to becoming popular with and getting together with y—I mean my Michael. I had honestly thought he didn’t care about it, being popular, I mean, but I guess he just hid it well because he was all along with it.”

Well, looks like it was time to speak up and explain. “Well, I just honestly thought I would never become popular. I can’t speak for your Michael, but that’s how I felt. I was honestly jealous that Jere had tried and was brave enough to go out of his comfort zone to do that. I was also just… really scared that he’d be too cool for me.”

“Wait, was that what you were trying to say the day we got the SQUIP?... Shit, sorry, you know what I mean.”

Michael just nodded as he gave Jeremiah’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Yeah, I can just be stubborn and it’s hard to talk about emotions and shit, y’know? I don’t know how you and your Michael are, but after everything happened with us and the SQUIP, we ended up having to rebuild our friendship and that involved making a pact to talk about gross emotions and stuff. It sucks, but communication is key for any relationship, so it helped.”

Nodding in understanding, though it just ended up with Jeremiah rubbing his head against his shoulder and messing up his hair a bit more. It took all Michael had to not snicker and attempt to fix it. “OK, well a-anyway… Yeah, my Michael and I just climbed up the popularity pyramid for a few weeks and eventually just became friends with Brooke, Rich, and even the most popular kids like Jake Dillinger, Chloe Valentine, and Jenna Roland. Christine ended up becoming a friend through play rehearsal.

“A week before Jake’s Halloween party, I finally was able to ask my Michael out once I figured out that was what I wanted to do and after my SQUIP convinced me that getting an upgrade would help. It… it was really great, asking my Michael out. I didn’t realize he had been pining after me for a while and that he had been getting advice from his-his SQUIP to help him out with that too. W-we ended up hanging out a lot more and my Michael even stayed around during play rehearsal after convincing Mr.Reyes with a bribe of Hot Pockets.” A snicker passed Michael’s lips at that because he had done that a few times when he really didn’t want to wait for Jeremy until after practice during the spring production of ‘Grease-y Vampires,’ and that went about as well as you’d expect. “We didn’t go to the party, we ju-just watched classic horror films and got a bit high after since there wasn’t school the next day.

“The next day, though, we found out about Rich setting a fire. After that, he… he’s been isolated and I didn’t know until recently that he’s been going crazy trying to get his SQUIP out. I only found out when I went to visit him like I-I do every week.” Sorrow was evident in Jeremiah’s voice, and while Michael went to try to comfort him again, he continued to speak.

“During that time, my SQUIP started pointing out how people were sad and… pitiful around school. It explained to me that my-my Michael’s SQUIP helped him with his anxiety and was actually helping him do better in school. He was improving his life, and I was able to see the difference. It… it told me that everyone else would be better with one too, and I thought I was actually helping everyone. Hell, I gave one to Jenna because she was so depressed that people only cared about her gossip and not her.

“After that, I really did think that everyone would be happier if they had one. I didn’t badly about it much while I had the box of SQUIPs in my locker, and being with Michael distracted me from the reality of how bad it was with how much better he was doing because of his.” Jeremiah took a deep breath, gnawing on his lower lip as he seemingly recomposed himself to continue. “I noticed that Rich was isolating himself and acting weird and started realizing that maybe the SQUIP wasn’t… wasn’t the best for everybody. He was going crazy trying to get it out, Mikey!”

He just nodded in understanding. Jeremy had passed the word of how he and Rich struggled with coping since they’d been dealing with the SQUIPs longer than anyone else in the SQUIP Squad, so he couldn’t even imagine what this Rich was going through in Jeremiah’s world right now. “Yeah, I had found out through a WoW friend that his brother went crazy trying to get it out too. I only figured out the Red because of him, honestly. In our time, both my Jeremy and I had been at the party and I overheard him screaming about needing Mountain Dew Red.”

Jeremiah cursed under his breath then as he held on tight to his fingers. He muttered something along the lines of ‘they influenced us so we wouldn’t figure that out’ before taking a deep breath in… and out… “Well, that had me thinking that the SQUIP wasn’t the best, especially since I’d be tricking people into having it like Rich did with me. Granted, it does help you with your goals, but it didn’t feel right to get everyone to have one to help them with their problems and to end up having your freedom and free will stripped from you in any way, shape, or form. It was very insistent though, and it kept using Michael as an example of a good outcome. It… it felt wrong.

“During the play, I tried to pitch it to Christine and she was soured by the idea near instantly. I tried apologizing, but she rushed off before I could. The SQ-SQUIP apparently didn’t trust me with the whole idea ever since I started doubting, so it-it had Jenna make the serum for the play a Mountain Dew/SQUIP mixture. I didn’t know a…about the Red, so I could only watch as everyone was con-controlled and synched up to my SQUIP. I… I became the involuntary leader of the hive mind that took over Middleborough High School since Rich was already losing it and I was connected to everybody else…”

Michael could feel Jeremiah start to shake in his arms again, and he wrapped both arms around him as Jeremiah finished his explanation with shaking sobs and stuttering words, his hand running along the small of his back. “I-I’ve been trying to figure this out f-for months, and I’ve been going crazy trying to fi-figure it out. Mi-michael’s been there, his normal supportive self, but anytime I mention anything about the SQUIP, it-it’s like he becomes different. He gets defensive, a-and he tries to help me th-think it’s so great. It’s helped him, b-but I feel like it’s taking…taking him over, manipulating him like it did with me. Everyone’s a-all marked like how I a-am, and my back i-is covered in electrical shocks be-because I don’t listen anymore to it and it tried some fucking electric shock th-therapy or some stupid shit.” 

No more words passed Jeremiah’s lips, only sobs as he practically collapsed into Michael’s arms. He held him close, doing his best to comfort his best friend (???). It took a while for Jeremiah to finally calm down, but Michael was there until the other felt somewhat better. Once the taller boy was sure he was OK to listen, Michael spoke up because something Jeremiah said at the end bothered him too much to keep quiet about. 

“Hey, it’ll be OK. I have some questions though, is that OK?” Jeremiah nodded his head with a sniffle. “So, you were the head of this hivemind. Was the SQUIP trying to get you to SQUIP more people?” 

“Y-yeah, one of the things i-it wanted me to do is ‘help’ other people. It’s been scary though, watching everyone became these oddly perfect versions of themselves. Some people are better off, like Brooke who has better self-confidence and doesn’t let Ch-chloe walk all over her anymore. I can sort of understand what people want too and it’s a bit of an information overload. Like, I know Christine wants things to be easy so her SQUIP helps her treat life like it’s one huge play. I… I’m not sure she can differentiate reality from fiction anymore.”

A large lump formed in Michael’s throat at that, especially with how heartbroken and mortified Jeremiah sounded. He fought and swallowed it down though before asking something else. “OK, so you know how you’re here now? What… what happened to the hivemind? Did you feel connected to anyone when you got here?”

Jeremiah seemed to think for a moment before horror passed his face. “No… I-it was so much quieter, like when I first got it when it was only a few more voices in my head.”

Shit. “Sometimes, if someone isn’t able to fill in for a role, the next in line takes over. Who is the head of the SQUIP hivemind now, Jeremiah?” He already knew the answer, but Michael wanted to be wrong for once in his life.

\--

‘Michael’ was in his kitchen, whistling as he was cooking a meal for Jeremy. Information had been flashing through his mind since Jeremy left the bathroom, and everything was making sense as his SQUIP clarified everything for him, on why he knew so much more about everyone at school and their problems. He glanced to the side as he finished piling the breakfast food onto two plates, a bottle of Mountain Dew tucked under his arm per his SQUIP’s insistence (who looked like a more… sci-fi version of Ryan Met).

**_[This Jeremy, once his SQUIP is reactivated and synched, will help you get your Jeremy back and everything will be back to normal, Michael. Then you won’t have as many voices in your head and we can focus back on helping your Jeremy, OK?]_ **

He nodded then, worry flashing over his eyes as he thought back to Jeremiah before heading down the stairs with a smile forming on his lips. “Jere-bear? C’mon, wake up, I made breakfast and I didn’t almost burn down the kitchen this time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN. >;3c Also, if you don't know who Ryan Met is, he's the singer for AJR. I chose him because I honestly didn't want to go with stereotypical ideas people have done for Michael's SQUIP, and he sings 'Weak' which is totally a Michael song, plus I feel like he'd listen to AJR. 
> 
> Please leave me comments and kudos, they really make my day, even if you just comment on something you liked in the chapter or something!


	4. Going Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before he reached the top of the stairs, ‘Michael’ turned around and called down, “Oh, don’t forget that we’re meeting everyone at Pinkberry for frozen yogurt at one. If only Seven-Eleven was a more socially accepted place to hang at, we could get the clearly superior and cheaper frozen treat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer wait, I got sick over the weekend! I also have a beta now! She didn't beta this though, but she'll start doing it soon. We've been busy focusing on some.... other plans you all will get to see (or read) soon.... 
> 
> This chapter was also really hard for me to write, and I can't think of any way to improve it, so take this and I hope you all enjoy it!

For a minute, Jeremy had forgotten about the shit that occurred that night. It was just a nightmare, right? Yeah, he’d had some involving the SQUIP before, just not like this one. 

He knew it wasn’t just a nightmare when he saw the bottle of Mountain Dew tucked underneath one of ‘Michael’s’ arms. It took all he had to remain calm and composed as the other walked down the stairs of the basement with that smile that could normally dismiss any and all anxieties he had. It couldn’t right now while knowing ‘Michael’ wasn’t his Michael, that he was SQUIPed, was dangerous, even if he didn’t intend to be. “Mm… I think I smell smoke. Are you sure you didn’t almost start a fire at least once?”

A huff passed ‘Michael’s’ lips as he sat down on the edge of his bed. “Well, I guess you don’t get anything to eat then,” he concluded, acting as if he was going to eat everything on the plate. 

“What? No, I wanna eat!” Jeremy whined out, which only resulted in ‘Michael’ laughing as he held it away from his reach. “Michaaaaaael!”

The pair continued this for a little bit longer, only stopping when the bottle dropped from ‘Michael’s’ place under his arm onto the bed. It almost dropped down onto Jeremy’s foot, but Jeremy managed to pull it away in the nick of time. “Shit, sorry. I should’ve just put it down.”

“It’s OK, don’t worry.” Nope, this wasn’t OK. Was it normal for Feremy to drink this here since he was SQUIPed still? No way in hell he could drink it, so he had to think on his feet. Shit. “Is that for you? I think you forgot to get me something to drink, you jerk.” Jeremy stuck out his tongue as he said that, trying to keep that playful atmosphere that completely contrasted the panic and anxiety flaring up in his mind.

“Nah, I figured we could share. After all, I’ve just been craving it. I am a gamer after all and must keep up my diet of this liquid gold and the heavenly Doritos.” Jeremy could tell that he was joking, but there was a more serious undertone underneath it that he couldn’t figure out. Shit, _shit_ , was he suspecting that he was acting off? Did he think he needed Mountain Dew to help his SQUIP reconfigure or something? It didn’t help that Michael waved the bottle teasingly in front of his face, whispering out puns like, “Just _dew_ it,” in his adorably playful tone.

A scoff passed Jeremy’s lips as he tried to stay calm, utilizing his acting skills to make it seem like he was. Even if this wasn’t his Michael, ‘Michael’ would be able to tell if he was off after being so close for almost thirteen years now. Hopefully he could trick him for now. “Well, that isn’t a good way to start your day. Get me some juice or coffee or something instead, those are actual breakfast drinks,” Jeremy lectured as he grabbed his plate from the tray and began eating. Well, he was a bit of a stickler for food being eaten during their time frame as designated by society. The only exception was the occasional breakfast-for-dinner.

It seemed as if ‘Michael’ was at an impasse for now, pouting as he opened the bottle and took a swig in defiance. “Fuck societal norms. I’ll eat and drink whatever I want whenever I want, but I’ll go get you your orange juice.” He ever so gently shoved Jeremy by his shoulder, earning a snicker from the shoved boy before standing up to head back upstairs. 

“Thank you, Micha,” Jeremy practically sung out as he felt relief wash over his body. 

“Mhmm, you society-conforming geek. You’re lucky I love you.” Before he reached the top of the stairs, ‘Michael’ turned around and called down, “Oh, don’t forget that we’re meeting everyone at Pinkberry for frozen yogurt at one. If only Seven-Eleven was a more socially accepted place to hang at, we could get the clearly superior and cheaper frozen treat.”

Well, Jeremy’s acting skills were certainly going to be tested today. “Yeah, yeah, you hipster. Fetch me my juice so I can hear you whine more about everything that’s wrong with the world until then.”

\--

The fifteen-minute ride to Pinkberry held subtle tones of tension. Most would think the opposite, as Jeremy and Fichael (OK, did it sound stupid? Yes, but Jeremy couldn’t think of any other way to differentiate right now and it might be an easier trend to keep everyone separated) were talking as if nothing was wrong and Jeremy was actually who he claimed to be. They talked, laughed, and even held hands over the center console as Fichael drove with one hand. 

Even if Jeremy’s acting skills were highly praised in local paper’s articles on ‘Grease-y Vampires’ and the school paper that normally degraded the school’s performances, he knew he could never pull one over on his Michael, let alone a Michael with a super computer in his brain. There was something slightly off about how he grasped his hand, the millisecond delay in laughter, the slight hesitation in his eyes. One could pass it off easily as an off-day, but you were never allowed to have one when you had a SQUIP. 

Jeremy knew from experience. 

Regardless, he mentioned nothing about it as they pulled into the shopping center parking lot, a few stores down from the fro-yo meeting place. Using his observational skills, Jeremy leaned as inconspicuously forward as he could (which was very painfully conspicuous) to see who they were meeting. Of course, Fichael noticed.

“Scouting out to see if the coast is clear, Heere? Heh.” Jeremy swore his eyes were going to roll out of his head at that.

“Trying to get a good read on the enemy,” Jeremy said, mimicking the best video game spy voice that he could. He even pretended to use his phone as a walkie-talkie. While he was doing a lot of play-pretend right now, scouting out was not one included in that. 

Whether Fichael picked up on that or not was up in the air. Instead of giving any hint to that, he picked up his own phone instead, placing it near his mouth as he leaned to get the best view inside Pinkberry. “Well, Heere, I have visual on one Lohst, Brooke, one Valentine, Chloe, one Roland, Jenna, one Canigula, Christine, and one Dillinger, Jake. Lohst and Valentine are practically canoodling, Roland is talking with Dillinger, and Canigula is engrossed in her own thoughts. It’ll be an easy mission, about 500 EXP and a beginner’s achievement if you’re lucky.”

Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh at that before he put his phone down. OK, so he knew who was there now. “I think I can handle it, Mell. I’m on the case.” With that, he opened the Cruiser’s door and pretended to roll out. He could hear Fichael’s barking laughter as he shut the door, at first eased into comfort before remembering that he was the enemy too, he couldn’t relax around him.

Taking Fichael’s hand, he walked with him to Pinkberry, bracing himself ( _c-c-c-c’mon, go, go_ ) before walking inside the establishment. As he did, he took in the sight of his ‘friends.’ 

The first thing that hit Jeremy hard was Fake (fake Jake). He was the first to turn back and smile at the pair before waving them over. He was sitting in a wheelchair (his Jake moved onto crutches after January and was undergoing physical therapy, but was finally walking on his own since the start of the summer) with no casts on his legs. They didn’t look as… toned as normal, which made sense if he was still in the chair, but it still felt like there was more to the story than he could tell.

Frooke (fake Brooke, there’s a trend if you can’t tell) was sitting with Fhloe (fh-low-ee, like flow-y,)—well, more sitting in her lap, something that was common for his Brooke and Chloe since they talked over their relationship issues and started dating in March. They were nestled close to one another, both smiling at one another in a way that just felt… off. The smile on Fhloe’s face seemed too kind for her face, as she has always had perpetual RBF (resting bitch face, something that Jeremy didn’t know was a thing until freshman year). Brooke seemed a lot more confident as well, which was a good thing, right?

Fenna was talking to Fake originally, not looking at her phone. In fact, her phone wasn’t even visible. She looked over at Jeremy and Fichael over Fake’s shoulder, waving at the two before continuing to talk to Fake. Well, this made some sense… Jeremy remembered how Jenna wanted people to notice her, especially since it seemed she only paid attention to everyone else. Did she move on from that and gossip now that people actually cared about her and not the information she held?

Finally, Fhristine (fur-istine) just seemed… like she was out of it. Now Christine dazed out sometimes, her mind going a mile a minute at times while daydreaming, but this wasn’t like that. It seemed like she was reviewing something, like when she was going over a script, but they didn’t have anything like that during the summer. When it seemed like she got something, she looked over at Jeremy and waved, though it seemed rehearsed. “Jeremy, Michael, over here!” She patted at the seat next to her in invitation.

Trying to swallow down the lump of anxiety in his throat, Jeremy walked over with Fichael and they sat down in the two seats on Fhristine’s side of the tables. As they sat, two cups of Pinkberry frozen yogurt were slid in front of them by Fenna. “’Figured you guys’d be a bit late and thought it’d be easier to order your stuff at one-ten for your one-seventeen arrival.” The certainty and accuracy of her statement sent shivers down his spine. 

“Thanks, and sorry, you know how we get sometimes.” Finally, his hand was freed from Fichael’s grip as Fichael grabbed his cup and started to eat. Fenna just shrugged knowingly before looking at Jeremy, worry suddenly in her eyes. 

“Hey, are you OK?”

C’mon, think of a believable lie. “What do you mean? I’m fine.” Nice. 

Frooke frowned from where she was settled. Pulling the spoon out of her mouth, she spoke up in her naturally soft and sweet voice. “Well, we felt a… _shift_ this morning. Is your SQUIP malfunctioning?”

_Shift?_

“Shift?”

Before any of the other inhabitants at the table could explain, Fichael just raised a hand in a reassuring manner. “Jere’s fine, don’t worry guys. His SQUIP is just undergoing some sorta maintenance… I think? A new update’s coming up for all of us and since he’s the head of it all, he’s gotta go through it first before we can. I’m just sorta taking over for a bit until his SQUIP’s all done, ‘s all.” 

Wait, head of it all? Maintenance? Taking over for a bit? The fuck did all of that mean? 

Meanwhile, everyone else didn’t seem worried by this tidal wave of new information, acting as if this was easily acceptable. “Oh, great! Jeremy, do you have any idea what’s gonna be in the new update?” Fhloe asked, arms gently squeezing around Frooke’s middle. 

“No clue, SQUIP told me it’d be a surprise,” was all Jeremy could get out before he started to drown himself in his frozen yogurt. Hell, even it tasted fake compared to his Pinkberry, even if it was basically the same.

Apparently, what he said made sense to everyone as they nodded before continuing to eat and converse. Jeremy avoided conversing himself by keeping his mouth full of fro-yo and resting his head against Fichael’s shoulder, keeping his eyes shut whenever he wasn’t eating. When his eyes weren’t shut, he was taking everyone in and trying to figure who was the biggest threat and who wasn’t.

Well, Fhristine seemed to be too preoccupied in her own world, as much as it pained him to (mentally) say. Frooke and Fhloe seemed too preoccupied with each other in such an eerie way that they couldn’t do any damage either. Fake… well, from what he gathered, he lost any and all function in his legs permanently, but he was still a bigger threat. Fenna… Fenna seemed like she knew more than she let on, and he recalled how during the play in his world, she cried out about knowing what’s going on with everyone all the time. Yup, she had to be the second-biggest threat.

The biggest threat of them all, the apparent new head of the hivemind, was the one with an arm wrapped around his shoulder, gently rubbing circles into his shoulder. Well, you know they say—keep your friends close and your enemies closer (yes, if he kept saying that to himself, everything would be OK in the end). With that in mind, he just listened to everyone talk along, keeping his eyes shut as his mind wandered back to Michael and Feremy with worry in his mind. Michael was smart, he’d notice that he was gone and replaced. It was too much to ask, but hopefully Michael would be able to save the day again because he was sure he couldn’t do this alone again, especially when he has so many people against him already.

He needed his Player One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave me comments, they sustain me and tbh keep me going with writing this! <3


	5. Battle Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *tumbles in in the least graceful way* .... So sorry this is late, uh school sucks... ALSO I've been working on a new fic I'm co-writing with my new beta (AwkwardpersonTM)! We've both been focused on that since it has a full planned-out outline, but I'm /not/ stopping work on this!
> 
> We get introduced to the SQUIP Squad (not the mirror/reflected versions) this chapter! I'm so excited! They also chat in a group chat, so here is a list of all of their usernames (even if Jeremiah doesn't text from Jere's phone right now, it's included in the list).  
> Michael: Grover Stan  
> Jeremy: Inky  
> Brooke: Pinkb  
> Chloe: Erry  
> Rich: Bisexualitea  
> Jake: Sbarros4Lyfe  
> Jenna: lesBIEN  
> Christine: BroadwayBound
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I think it might be the longest one we have so far!

After a much-needed break from hearing Jeremiah’s side of events, Michael had gone into detail on what happened during his SQUIP events. He even went into detail about his own struggles, something Jeremy had wanted to know when the two insisted on the importance of communication. Talking about those dark times took a bit out of him, hence why they were lying in Michael’s bed still at the lovely time of two in the afternoon, the small hum of his anxiety-relief playlist filling the air.

“God, I swear that I’m gonna smoke out the entire house once this is all over with how much weed ‘m gonna need,” Michael muttered, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. “This is just… god, I thought that, besides the SQUIP hiccups, that we were all done with the SQUIP shit.”

“Well, hopefully it will all be over after you help my friends and Michael out and get your Jeremy back,” Jeremiah offered back. From his peripheral vision, Michael watched as Jeremiah shifted in the bed, sitting against his bed’s backboard. The invitation itself was welcoming and familiar, a way to invite him to rest his head on Jeremy’s (well, Jeremiah right now) thigh. If he wasn’t so tired, he would refuse to do this, but he needed something to calm him since he figured that smoking a blunt or from his pipe wasn’t the _best_ idea right now when he needed to focus.

As soon as he rested his head against Jeremiah’s leg, he felt fingers run through his mess he called his hair. He tried to not focus too much on it, instead focusing on figuring out one problem that had been rattling around in his head ever since he realized that Jeremy wasn’t here.

“Hey, so you’ve seen each other sometimes in the mirror, right? How do you think that all worked, and how did you even switch with Jeremy?”

Glancing up, he saw Jeremiah’s brows furrow as his fingers stilled for a moment in his hair. “I… it’s something that’s been bugging me too, honestly…”

“Well, what did you do this time that was different than the other times you saw each other in the mirror? Something different had to happen for you two to switch, y’know,” Michael murmured as he talked with his hands, having his hands cross in front of him when he mentioned the two switching.

A soft sigh passed Jeremiah’s lips as he seemed to be deep in thought, though his fingers continued idly shifting through Michael’s dark locks. “I… I don’t know.” A few beats of silence passed as the two tried to think before Jeremiah mumbled out, “Well, I had rested m-my hand against the mirror. I needed to ground myself and seeing your Jeremy there, without the SQUIP… I wanted it so badly.

“I think it really pissed him off though or set something off. He… he jabbed at where my hand had been on his side of the mirror, like how you’d prod someone in the chest, ‘ya know?” When Michael hummed in agreement, he continued. “When he did that, everything just felt… like it was shifting. I don’t know how to describe it, but there was also this sudden blinding light and I was here.”

“God, this is some weird fantasy shit. There hadn’t been any sudden blinding light over here though. Maybe…” Michael pursed his lips as he tried to think of an explanation for the sudden light only Jeremiah and, presumably, Jeremy saw during this weird swap. “Maybe it had to do with the SQUIPs? I mean, hell, Jeremy’s SQUIP has been weird ever since Christine downed the Dew. This whole thing could all be because of his SQUIP having some odd malfunction. Honestly, that would explain a lot. At this point, I don’t know if I can be skeptical of anything now.”

“Yeah, I understand that. Tumblr and Reddit would have field days knowing that alternate universes exist,” Jeremiah hummed out in agreement.

The taller of the two couldn’t help but laugh where he lied in the bed. “God, this is something I’d love to dive deeper into when high, honestly. I’m at my peak philosophical capacity then.” After another hum of agreement, Michael let his hands rest against his stomach with a sigh. “Well, we do have to dive a bit deeper in to figure out how this alternate universe hopping happened besides you two touching hands, like how you two could only see each other sometimes?”

“I think I got that.” Glancing up, Michael raised a brow in question. “Hey, I can come up with good ideas too!” Jeremiah whined out with mock offense on his face.

“Mm, whatever you say. Continue, peanut gallery.” His reflexes weren’t quick on the draw this time to defend himself from a playful hit from Jeremiah. “I said to continue, jeez! Jerk.”

“Nerd, but anyway.” Brown eyes rolled in their sockets before Jeremiah started explaining his idea. “Well, since we’ve lived different lives, the lives where we’re all SQUIPed versus not SQUIPed, there’s no way we’re in the same place all the time, right? Like, OK, where were you and your Jeremy last week?”

God, all the time they spent together sort of happily blurred together… He had to take out his phone and check his own calendar app to see if they had scheduled anything specifically a week ago. “Uh… well we went to Six Flags on Wednesday!”

“See! Last week, Mikey, m-my Michael and I were out around town all day Wednesday! The times your Jeremy and I probably saw each other in mirrors were times where we… we happened to be at the same place in the same time.” With a prideful grin, he prodded Michael’s forehead with his free hand. “I am no damn peanut gallery, good sir.”

“Alright, alright, your peanut-gallery title is revoked, now please stop poking my forehead. You’re gonna give me wrinkles.”

“That’s probably not how it works, Mikey,” Jeremiah said around a laugh as his finger was swatted away.

Michael almost snorted from laughing as he rested his hand back against his chest. “Probably not, but I don’t wanna risk it. Plus, we have more important things to focus on like how we’re gonna help my Jeremy, your Michael, and all of your friends.”

With a frown, Jeremiah nodded as he looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah… So, d’you think that only SQUIPed people could do this switch, like anyone from the cast? I don’t think you have the luxury of being able to hope through alternate universes, unfortunately for you.” Michael could hear him trying to add a joking tone to such a serious topic, something he honestly appreciated.

“Yeah, probably with some electric mumbo-jumbo neither of us’ll be able to fully comprehend.” He looked through his phone then, tapping on his messenger app to skim through the few group and single chats he was apart of. “Honestly, if that’s the case, we’re gonna need to enlist the help of my friends.”

“If they’re up for getting involved in this again,” Jeremiah pointed out as Michael tapped into the group chat currently labeled [No Straights in Our Server] (their original name was ‘SQUIP Squad’ but, after not wanting the constant reminder of the shit they went through, decided that it was OK to change it every other week to whatever was relevant or funny). At his point, a frown formed on Michael’s lips.

Hell, he didn’t even want to get involved with this again. He never even got SQUIPed, so he couldn’t imagine how terrible it would be to dive back into this with the chance of reactivating their own SQUIPs in the process. (God, was he asking too much of them?)

Nursing his lower lip, Michael stared at the group chat with worry in his eyes. Only when he felt a gentle tug on his hair did his eyesight shift to look up at Jeremiah over the rim of his round glasses. He swore his heart softened at the sight of his warm and reassuring smile, allowing his to gather his courage as he focused back on the screen, quickly typing out to the group.

_[Grover Stan] **@everyone**_

_[Grover Stan] hey guys I have an issue and need everyones help!!!! is everyone able to come and hang/meet/whatever somewhere???? NEED HELP ASAP!!! SOS!!!! URGENT ISSUE!!!_

_[BroadwayBound] Oh no!!! D: Whats wrong Michael????_

_[Pinkb] texting for chloe and I bc her nails are drying! whats going on mikey????_

_[Bisexualitea] have you realized that /I’m/ the superior gay in the group and that you need to hand over exclusive queer puns to me???? ;)_

_[Grover Stan] ok first off, ur USERNAME DEAR RICHARD, secondly, no its about the tictac,,,,_

_[lesBIEN] im picking everyone up except for brooke and chloe, you can drive you and chloe to michael’s place, right?_

_[Pinkb] yeah, ofc!!!!!_

_[Sbarros4Lyfe] Shit, bro. We’ll be right over, don’t worry about it._

_[Bisexualitea] shit, thought that fuckwad was gone except for a few hiccups. guess we’ll need to try again_

_[Grover Stan] thanks guys_

\--

By the time everyone was caught up on the current SQUIPredicament (OK, _no_ , these SQUIP-related names were getting ridiculous, Michael wasn’t going to take any suggestion Rich came up with anymore), Michael’s mama had ordered everyone pizza and they were finishing it off, the sunset ready to start soon. Everyone sat in a semi-circle, every person able to look at one another if they spoke as per Michael’s request.

He just finished explaining everything, up to the point of needing their help as he started to pick at his nail bed. As he was about to start, he felt Jeremiah’s hand reach over and gently squeeze his own. That was a nervous habit, and the other-Jeremy was trying so hard to comfort him. Shit, this was hard on both of them, but now…

“So… how are we supposed to help?” Brooke finally asked, breaking the tense silence that had been lingering over all of them. “Are we supposed to switch to the other side and help out Jeremy over there?” As she asked, she sipped from her plastic cup before resting her head against Chloe’s shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s what Mikey and I were thinking,” Jeremiah said, his fingers interlacing Michael’s in a way that reassured the taller of the two. “Since Mikey can’t get over there since he was never SQUIPed, and we wouldn’t want him going over anyway because that would cause the hivemind head to shift, we need to try to isolate my Michael and his SQUIP from his, uh…. Versions of you guys? God, I hate talking like this.”

“Yeah dude, it can get a bit confusing,” agreed Jake from where he sat on the floor, holding one of Michael’s Pokemon-themed pillows against his chest. “Hell, we’ve been going over this for a few hours and my brain’s aching.”

Chloe snickered as she rested her head against Brooke’s, playfully jabbing at Jake with, “Well, that isn’t hard to do.”

“Hey, he’s right behind Jenna in terms of grade!” Rich defended, sticking his tongue out at Chloe before wrapping a protective arm around Jake. “So suck it!”

Michael decided to clear his throat then, knowing the two couples’ bickering halves could go on for seemingly forever. “Anyway… what do you guys think? It’ll be like going on an undercover mission to help Jeremy and Jeremiah here as well as, well, yourselves in a weird way? Plus, you all can be universe hoppers!”

Rich just perked up at the mention of being a ‘universe hopper.’ “That’s seriously like some cool sci-fi movie plot, Mell! God, I wish we could brag about this without sounding bat-shit crazy.”

“Just like how we’d sound crazy if we talked about the SQUIP,” Jenna added in before eating at the leftover crust Chloe and Christine had piled onto her paper plate. “And, honestly, it sounds a bit crazy to think about this weird sci-fi shit. How are we supposed to know that, when we jump, we don’t have our SQUIPs reactivate or someone forced some Mountain Dew down our throats?”

“Well, that’s the thing… We don’t know,” Michael admitted, feeling himself tense again at the apprehension, “But Jeremy is over there! Plus, we know how to fix their SQUIP situation, and I can tell you guys how to get some Red to give to Jeremiah’s Michael. If he drinks it, he’ll probably have the same reaction Christine did during the play.”

“ _Probably_?”

“Chloe, I’m trying my best here! I just know that we need to help Jere, and I can’t really do shit about it from here!” He let out a deep sigh, pretending to rub the sleep away from his eyes when he was really wiping away forming tears of frustration. “I need your help, Jeremiah needs your help, and Jeremy needs it especially. He’s stuck in a world where all of you-“ He pointed, sweeping his finger across the semi-circle at everyone. “- are SQUIPed still, and he has less of a clue of what’s going on! He’s in enemy territory with no help! We need to give him the help.”

Christine, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke up. “Michael’s right. Are we all really going to let Jeremy be stuck alone?! You never leave someone behind, especially in some weird world- no offense Jeremiah.”

“None taken, it’s really gone to shit w-with the SQUIP.”

Nodding, Christine stood up and went to sit down right to Michael’s right, where there had been empty space. “Last time, Michael was the one who had worked together with Jeremy to save all of us! We need to all work together this time to help Jeremy and Michael since they can’t do this themselves. Are you guys with me or are you with me?”

The enthusiasm that burst from Christine was mostly contagious, those who were seemingly more in favor cheering out words of encouragement and support. Chloe and Jenna, the two doubters, still seemed unsure about the while endeavor. Jenna fiddled with the charms dangling from her phone case while Chloe checked on her fresh nails with pursed lips; Michael did his best not to let their hesitance rub off on him as he sat up a bit straighter. 

Before he could try to reaffirm himself as the leader of this endeavor (was he? Or was it Jeremiah? They didn’t decide on anything, god), Jake sat in front of the two girls with his award-winning smile. “Hey, I get that you guys are still nervous. We all are, and none of us want to do this, but we gotta for Jeremy! He needs help. Plus, if you’re scared to go, you guys can go and hop across last once we’ve made sure it’s safe.” God, even if Jake used to spread himself thin to dip his toes into every club, he was still the head of the debate team and it showed with his reassuring and convincing tone.

Thanks to Jake, that seemed to finally get them to agree to the idea. Relief washed over Michael as he rested his head against Jeremiah’s shoulder, feeling like he needed to nap for the rest of the summer before he’d consider being close to alright. No, he could do that once Jeremy was back and after Jeremiah was home with his own friends and family, once both were safe and sound. 

He realized after a minute or so of just lying there, trying to sap some energy from Jeremiah’s lanky form, that the room was quiet. Michael felt everyone’s gazes before seeing them, glancing up to see everyone, including the person he was leaning against, looking at him expectantly. “What?”

“Well, what’s the plan for us all going over there?” Christine asked, her tone soft and expectant. Oh, well it looked like he was actually the leader in all of this, no reaffirmation needed on his part.

Quickly sitting himself back up, Michael cleared his throat as he tried to remember what he and Jeremiah discussed before everybody made it over. “Well, since you’re only going to see your reflected self when you’re both at the same mirror, I was going to suggest that we have two people go across. The best place to meet your reflected selves would probably be at home.”

Everyone nodded in agreement to that, though Jake and Brooke seemed to nod more vigorously than anyone else. Before Michael could question that, Brooke added, “Yeah, I’ve actually, um…” She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, seemingly nervous as her gaze never left her lap. “I’ve seen what you described happened with Jeremy and Jeremiah here, but I just didn’t bring it up because I thought I was just imagining it. It normally happens late at night, so I’ve just been thinking I’m tired and stuff…”

“Me too, bro,” Jake added, going back to holding the pillow close to himself. “I honestly thought it was me just thinking back to some bad time because the other Jake, uh… Well, he still has on his casts. It felt like my insecurities and worries were just worse some nights, but I guess it wasn’t that but some weird sci-fi shit instead.” He tried to laugh it up, but Michael knew that he and everyone else wasn’t buying that he wasn’t a bit freaked out and relieved to know he wasn’t going crazy about this.

From beside him, Jeremiah cleared his throat before managing to get out, “Hey, uh… I’m sorry you two both went through with that alone. Trust me, every time I saw your Jeremy, it was terrifying, though I can imagine in a different way than how you guys f-felt it.” Michael felt Jeremiah’s arm shift underneath him to rub at his other arm, a nervous habit his Jeremy had finally gotten used to doing again without flinching. The lankier of the two flinched before his hand ran against his freckled arm, something that seemed to resonate sympathetically through the group before he continued. 

“But… but you guys can help my friends out, especially you two. If you see my friends in the mirror so often, you just have to get them to touch wherever you’re touching on the mirror and switch, and we can h-help everybody out!” Whatever confidence boost Jeremiah seemed to get was ebbing away, and Michael picked up on his cue to step in as he pulled the other in a one-armed hug, his other hand free to move as he spoke.

“Please, Brooke and Jake. I figured that we can contact you guys through the mirrors after we swap with you, y’know? If you guys see them in your mirrors often, presumably in your own houses, right?-” The two nodded. “-OK, then we can just hang out at your houses and have nightly updates. Plus, you can invite others over when you can and we can swap that way.”

Jeremiah seemed to falter for a second, pursing his lips as he glanced over towards Rich. “I… I think you’ll probably have to stay behind here and help Mikey out, Rich.”

That seemed to settle poorly with Rich, a frown forming as he crossed his arms over his chest. It took him a second to realize why, and he let out a slew of curses from under his breath before laughing bitterly. “Yeah, ‘sorta hard to do when your other half is in a mental asylum.” The dark mood that settled over him seemed to fade after a few moment, however, his brown eyes shifting and settling down on Michael. “Plus, I think you might need my company the most, Mell.”

The comment surprised Michael, and he raised a brow as he asked, “Uh, why?” while he expected some snarky or light-hearted comment. 

“This is gonna be tough on all of us, but you’re going to probably be losing it when we hear whatever these guys report back. While Jeremiah here’ll be a great help and comfort, he can’t replace your Boyf.” Despite the nickname that was obviously meant to lighten the solemn explanation, Michael felt his chest tighten and ache at the truth Rich spilt (hell, he should change his nickname to ‘Oracle’ next, he could pass it off as a Percy Jackson reference). “Even if we weren’t on the best terms a year ago, I think I might be the only person, once everyone else is over, who’ll be able to comfort you without you completely losing your shit.”

If he hadn’t been mentally exhausted before, this reality dawning upon Michael almost had him passing out. Instead of doing that out, he locked eyes with Rich, his exhaustion finally leaking out onto his face as he muttered out, “Thanks, Goranski.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for such a long wait, but now we've gotten into more of the meat of everything! Things will definitely get more intense with the upcoming chapters, huehuehue.
> 
> Thanks again to Mikaela, my lovely editor! We actually met up before I saw the 9/23 Off-Broadway show of BMC, and we're planning to see it together when it goes to Broadway in February! So yeah, lots of love to her!  
> (While you wait, also read the fic we're writing together: A Sticky (Spidey) Situation! It's longer, and updates for that will be long too (since school is getting busier), but it'll all be worth it!!!)
> 
> So yeah, love you all lots! Thanks for almost 500 hits, and be sure to comment below! <3


	6. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fichael had to know what was up, or at least something close to it. Fuck, he wasn’t safe near him; he had to think of a way to get away from him and be on his own without sounding too suspicious. If he didn’t, who knows what could happen when alone with Fichael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pops back up after a month* SORRY, UH... School sucks when you have 3 reading intensive college courses, an acting class, and a language class....  
> ALSO! Sorry this is the shortest chapter (I believe?), but I felt it didn't need too much and I needed it to end where it does (you will see as it goes). I hope everyone had a good October/Halloween (if you celebrate(d) it)! I spent it planning this chapter out, lol.
> 
> I also realized I forgot to put a chapter summary for Chapter 5... Sorry about that guys! You can tell how scatter-brained school has made me, hahah.  
> Also, thank you again to my beta-reader Mikaela (awkwardpersonTM)!!! She is amazing and a doll, honestly. <3

Jeremy’s recon mission at Pinkberry tired him out more than he’d like to admit (even if he stayed quiet most of the time and was really only eating and listening). By the time they left, Jeremy was ready to sleep this all away. Fichael seemed to pick up on this, though instead asked if he wanted to get some Seven-Eleven treats to keep them going.

“You know I’m never gonna say ‘no’ to the good shit,” Jeremy mused out, though he stayed in the car as Fichael got their goods. He watched the other through the glass walls of the convenience store, making sure he cataloged everything he got so no funny business could fuck Jeremy over later.

OK, Flaming Hot Cheetos, Funyuns, Reece’s PB Cups, and their red and blue trademark slushies along with some Oreos and sour gummy worms. _God, even in this universe, Fichael and Feremy get the same shit Michael and I get._ His chest hurt at that, wondering again how Michael was fairing with Feremy. Please be OK, Michael, and please help.

The way back to Fichael’s house held the same tension that carried on the way to Pinkberry. It practically suffocated Jeremy as he sat with his knees to his chest (something that was thankfully typical) to keep himself calm as the two talked as if nothing was wrong. Of course, it was all wrong though; Fichael and everyone else was SQUIPed, and whatever ‘update’ or whatever he mentioned before was definitely a lie. While the SQUIP could upgrade its own user, Jeremy was sure there was never a hivemind-wide update that could be done. Regardless, Fichael brought it up and reassured everyone else… and said he was the current hivemind head until Jeremy was back to normal.

Fichael had to know what was up, or at least something close to it. Fuck, he wasn’t safe near him; he had to think of a way to get away from him and be on his own without sounding too suspicious. If he didn’t, who knows what could happen when alone with Fichael.

With a lull of conversation, Jeremy took his chance. “Hey Micah?”

“Mm?” He watched as Fichael’s loving gaze (or was it all faked? Was his SQUIP in control of him right now?) shifted to him for a brief moment before focusing back on the road.

“I’m probably going to head back after we hang for a bit, I’m really tired and I wanna spend some time with my dad.” He had no clue what his relationship with his dad could even be like in this, and he sure as hell hoped that his dad wasn’t away on business in this world.

A tense beat passed in the car before Fichael replied. “Yeah, of course. Sorry, I’ve just been hogging you from him.” Relief washed over Jeremy, though he did his best to not show such instant relief.

“Don’t apologize, I just wanna be a good son and have a good family night, y’know? We can hang out again later, I’ll let you know when,” Jeremy reassured the other as the P.T. Cruiser pulled into the Mell’s driveway.

“Yeah, of course. Take a break from me, I know you’re dying to go,” Fichael dramatically ‘weeped’ as he leaned back in his seat once the engine was shut off, resting his hand against his forehead. “I’m such a nuisance to dear Jeremiah Heere, oh woe is me!”

Jeremy just laughed to play off how tense he got because what if he actually knew he was dying to get away from him, what if he knew, oh god he was so screwed—

He flinched at the sudden contact to his shoulder, coming back to the waking world with Fichael’s face of worry visible. “Hey, are you OK? We should head in and lie down, you seem really out of it.”

At this, Jeremy just nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat as he unbuckled himself. “Yeah, sounds good. We can even play whatever documentary you want on Netflix, even if I think it’s super boring.”

“Hey, no documentaries are boring,” Fichael defended as he unbuckled as well, reaching into the backseat of the car to grab the Seven-Eleven bag of goodies.

Glancing over, Jeremy tried to play off of the mood that was shifting towards a more comfortable one. “What about the ones they make us watch in school like Food, INC? That made you vegan for, what, a week?”

He felt Fichael gently push at his shoulder, and Jeremy glanced to see the other giving him a teasing look of disapproval. “First off, vegans don’t eat anything with any form of animal products, by-products included. Secondly, I was a vegetarian. Get your facts straight, mister.”

“Sorry, nothing I do is straight.”

The two stared at each other for a beat before bursting out into hysterical laughter. It almost distracted Jeremy from the fact that Fichael wasn’t to be trusted, no matter how much he wanted to.

Almost.

\--

After some persuasion from Jeremy, he and Fichael had ended up playing one about compulsive hoarders and another that was about an interview with some serial killer. Eeyup, nothing more relaxing than figuring out what made a psychopathic tick and hear about how people’s obsession with their stuff overtook their lives as you cuddled with your alternate-universe, manipulated-by-a-supercomputer-tic-tac boyfriend. How could you not be at ease?

As he slurped on his slushee, Jeremy glanced up at Fichael to see where his focus was. Thankfully, he was fully encompassed in the newest documentary of the day, one that talked about the rise of Funko Pops by building a business based on nurturing fans. Seeing an opportunity, he seized it to study Fichael closer.

Earlier in the day, he had been this oddly-composed version of Michael, one without any of his anxious tics of fiddling with his fingers or running said fingers through his curls. All of his smiles seemed genuine, nothing faked.

Now though, after less than a day… He was less and less composed as time went on, though only someone who was as close to Fichael could notice (something his or Feremy’s version of the SQUIP Squad could ever notice since they only really knew them since after the play). When he went to do any of his ticks or fidgets, he seemed distressed about it for a moment before seemingly brushing it off, like he was honestly surprised and worried that he was doing any of them.

Even if he was supposed to be his enemy, Jeremy worried about Fichael and his state of being. He was this head of the hivemind, and he knew his SQUIP used forms of punishment to reinforce certain behaviors. Was his SQUIP doing something similar to make him fidget like this, when he knew that the SQUIP always wanted that gone?

The thought of it had his chest ache as the documentary about the Funko Pops was drawing to a close. Fichael reaching over to close the Netflix tab, along with Jeremy finishing his slushee that successfully dyed his tongue and tinged his teeth blue, signified the end of Jeremy’s thoughts. “It’s getting late now, so if we want you to spend some good time with your dad, we should get going now.”

Jeremy did his best (and more than likely failed) to seem like he hadn’t been staring at him by staring right down at his empty cup with a frown. “Yeah, there’s no more slushee left so what’s the point in staying here?” he teased as he got up and tried to toss his empty cup into Fichael’s trash can across the room. The two watched as the cup barely made it halfway across the room, resulting in Jeremy bowing his head in shame as he got up and trudged over to toss the cup out, hearing the bellowing laughter belt out from Fichael with a smile on his own lips.

“Definitely time to go, I’m not letting someone who has to make the Walk of Shame inhabit this space any longer.”

“Understandable.” With Jeremy now laughing, he waited for Fichael to get up and grab the keys to his Cruiser before he took his hand, still playing up the act of being his Jeremy as they headed upstairs.

The car ride back didn’t freak out Jeremy too much, as Fichael just let the music of Marley fill the silence. Jeremy decided to check through his phone for now, trying to do any investigation on if there was Mountain Dew Red nearby to purchase. Honestly, he had no idea how Michael had done this before, though he was a pro at procuring obscure sodas. Maybe he should try to visit Spencer’s Gifts tomorrow by himself…

As he was scrolling through a Reddit page about different flavors of Mountain Dew, he saw a text notification from an… odd combination of people he wouldn’t normally think would have an exclusive chat. He did his best to not show that anything was off in case Fichael was watching him in his peripheral vision as he tapped on the notification, reading the messages as they came in.

_[Sbarros4Lyfe] Hey Jeremy! Where are you right now, bro? Brooke and I need to talk to you badly._

_[Inky] ??? what about??? Whats going on???_

_[Pinkb] dont have time to explain but are you with mikey rn???_

_[Inky] yeah but he’s dropping me off at home… why????_

_[Sbarros4Lyfe] Can’t explain right now, but text this group chat once you’re home, OK?_

_[Inky] um….. Ok……_

He pulled his head out of his phone long enough to see Fichael turning onto his street. Jeremy couldn’t help but let himself feel some relief, knowing he could talk with his dad and have some semblance of normality (after all, Jeremy knew there had only been enough SQUIPs to give to the cast, so everyone else couldn’t be SQUIPed… at least not yet). “Thanks for the ride back, Micah. I really appreciate it.”

Fichael shrugged as he pulled into Feremy’s driveway, glancing over at Jeremy with a small smile as he put the car into park. “It’s not a problem for my Player Two,” he reassured, reaching over and squeezing Jeremy’s hand.

“Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe, OK?” Jeremy asked instinctively, squeezing Fichael’s hand back.

Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh at Fichael’s exaggerated eye-roll, as it seemed like his eyes would fall out if he rolled them any harder. “Of course, Mom.” As he said that, he leaned over to press a quick parting kiss to Jeremy’s cheek, something Jeremy had to do his best not to tense at. It didn’t seem like Fichael noticed as he pulled back and let Jeremy’s hand go, but he couldn’t be sure with the poker faces he knew his own Michael was a master of dishing out. “Have a good night with your dad.”

“Will do. Love you,” Jeremy replied as he opened the car door, stepping out and carefully shutting it, smiling as he walked up the driveway to garage to open it with the keypad. As he did walk up, he sent a quick text to the group chat with Fake and Frooke.

_[Inky] ok so im home now without Michael so whats up????_

As he waited for a response, he quickly keyed in the code to open the garage. He glanced down at his phone to see the response he got, as notified by the small ‘ding!’ his phone gave off.

_[Pinkb] its jake and i, we managed to swap with the brooke and jake here!!!_

_[Sbarros4Lyfe] Yup, and we’re heading over right now to talk and recon. Is your ‘dad’ home?_

His response was halted as he looked in the garage, feeling his heart drop before looking back at the car that he heard was still there. Jeremy locked eyes with Fichael, seeing that his expression never shifted from the soft, knowing smile when he had exited the P.T. Cruiser earlier before the car backed out of the driveway and left.

It took a minute for Jeremy to properly type out a response with how badly his hands were shaking as he dashed into the garage and shut the garage door with a click of the button.

_[Inky] no and plse hury bc im abiut to habe a panuc attack_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry (not sorry) for the suspenseful cliffhanger, ahah! I originally had the ending be a little different, but I wanted Fichael and Jeremy to have that little moment at the very end of them both knowing that the other knows.  
> To quote Mikaela in the notes of the Google Doc: OH MY GOD THE SUSPENSE  
> Hopefully there won't be such a long break between chapters (if my professors will allow it, urgh...)! The next chapter will be with Michael and Jeremiah, but there may be more insight to what's going on with Jeremy before we jump back into his chapter again! Who knows... >;3c  
> ANOTHER THING: All of those documentaries are on Netflix!!! I plan to (probably during Fall Break/Winter Break) try to watch them all because they sound interesting as hell (thanks to my inner Michael Mell).


	7. Reinforcements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey Brooke, how are you doing? Is everything OK?” Michael asked, seeing Jeremiah, who was holding his iPhone, shift his hold to show everyone downstairs what was going on. 
> 
> “Yes and no,” Brooke started, running a hand through her frizzing blond locks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for dealing with my odd upload schedule! Here is a longer chapter for your troubles! <3 
> 
> Also, lots of love to awkwardpersonTM because she's a lovely doll! <333 An amazing beta, honestly, who I am also excited to be getting to see BMC with on Broadway in early April 2019!!! WOO!!!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter!!! :D
> 
> EDIT: ALSO forgot to mention, Michael has an anxiety attack in this chapter! It starts at 'Now Michael wouldn't have panicked as bad' and ends after 'He took a deep breath in' FYI! Sorry for forgetting to mention this until now! (His actual attack doesn't go into much detail, but it goes into the Senses method of calming himself down that I use sometimes.)

Michael waited with bated breath (god, Christine was rubbing off on him so much with Shakespeare) as he sat in the bedroom of Jeremy’s house, settled into the left side of the bed where he always slept whenever he stayed over. Currently, Jeremiah was downstairs getting some snacks together, so Michael had taken the initiative to get comfortable so he would not freak out while he waited. Nestled under Jeremy’s quilt, he waited for texts from the others to know how they were doing with helping the swapped members readjust to the crazy shitstorm that was this… thing.

 

Christine and Rich were at Jake’s house dealing with Jacob (which Michael just learned was Jake’s actual name) and helping him. Initially, it was only going to be Christine since Rich insisted to be with Michael at all times. That was until Jeremiah informed them that Jacob was permanently paralyzed from the waist-down due to his SQUIP. Rich and Michael had shared a conversation through looks in a few seconds before Rich insisted to help Christine. After all, he had helped Jake throughout his entire recovery, and Jeremiah said that Jacob and Richard (Jeremiah’s Rich) had been extremely close, and Jacob had wanted to visit Richard but couldn’t due to his SQUIP’s insistence and the lack of wheelchair ramps at the mental facility (some shitty insight and just shitty in general, in Michael’s opinion).

 

Chloe and Jenna were at Brooke’s house, of course. Jeremiah reassured she would be easier to help calm down. After everything, Destiny (Brooke’s middle name, supplied by Chloe) became a more independent version of the Brooke he knew that didn’t deal with anyone’s shit and was straight-forward with everything she did. From all of that, Michael knew it would be easy to cut past the bullshit and get to the point, something Chloe and Jenna were great at.

 

As Michael waited, he started to zone out, reassuring himself that he informed Brooke and Jake on how to correctly acquire some Mountain Dew Red. They had to contact his dealer at Spencers, give them his name, and let them know they wanted the Red. It would hopefully take less than a week to come in at most if he didn’t already have it. Everything would be alright, especially once they got Christine, Chloe, and Jenna switched over to Jeremiah’s world as well. Everything was going to be OK, and Jeremy was going to be OK… right?

 

The shift of the mattress brought Michael back to, his gaze shifting from the ceiling to Jeremiah. He sat cross-legged, a big bowl of movie theater buttered popcorn in his lap, as he looked at Michael with the trademark look of worry. “Hey, sorry i-if I bothered you. I figured you’d want some popcorn. D-don’t need to eat much to fill you up, right?”

 

“Yeah, you remembered that info dump about popcorn from when we saw Deadpool, huh?” Michael shifted to sit up then, the quilt pooling around his waist and in his lap as he reached over for a huge handful.

 

Jeremiah rolled his eyes at that, scoffing for a moment as if Michael had suggested something stupid like Dortios wasn’t the trademark gamer snack. “Duh. I’ve always l-listened to any info dumps. They’re endearing.”

 

“Aww, you find me endearing?” Michael cooed out, resting his head onto Jeremiah’s shoulder with a playful grin.

 

The taller boy couldn’t help but snicker as Jeremiah gently shoved him away, muttering out, “Of course, you dork. I... I wouldn’t date my Michael if I didn’t think that,” as Michael purposefully fell on his face into the mass of pillows. “Plus, we wouldn’t be best friends for almost thirteen years if I couldn’t st-stand said info dumps.”

 

“True,” came Michael’s muffled response before his head suddenly popped up. “Shit, our friendaversary is almost coming up too. Plus, it’s lucky thirteen, I need to get my Jeremy something good.” Was it a weird thing to think about right now? Yes. Did it help calm the panic in his chest? Yes, so he was going to talk about this instead.

 

“Shit, you’re right. God, I know my Michael will still l-love all the geeky shit after we fix him… What should I get him? I’m bad at gift ideas, a-and you’re basically him. What would be a good unlucky thirteen friendaversary gift be?” Jeremiah asked, seeming to want to go along with this idea as well as he turned to face Michael with a serious expression.

 

Shit, he hadn’t even thought of using Jeremiah to get an idea of the perfect gift for Jeremy. Granted, he always did well with the gifts, whether it be something homemade like their scrapbook for their ten year friendaversary or something bought like the tickets to their first concert with Weird-Al for their seventh. Michael knew that Jeremy always tried his best, though always felt as if his gifts were inadequate compared to Michael’s ‘perfect’ gifts.

 

“Well, after the craziness of all of this? He’ll probably want something simple and sweet,” Michael honestly replied before tossing a few popcorn pieces into the air, catching half of them in his mouth. “He still has his hoodie?” He watched Jeremiah nod as he picked up the pieces he failed to catch, not wanting to stain Jeremy’s sheets with the butter. “Well, I got myself a patch I’ve been wanting for years, but I think it would be better if you gave it to him.”

 

From his peripheral vision, Michael saw Jeremiah’s mouth practically drop as he waved his hands in front of himself. “What? N-no, no! You don’t have to do that for m-me and him, just give me an idea!”

 

“Too late, I’m getting it,” Michael confirmed as he got up from his spot, walking over to where he left his backpack from his last sleepover with Jeremy. Squatting down as Jeremiah squawked out defiantly, he checked through some of the pockets before pulling out the patch. “Plus, it can also signify everything you two have been through, dimensional hopping and all and saving each other from the gross hivemind.”

 

“Stop being such a sentimental mush, Mikey!” Jeremiah whined out from his place on Jeremy’s bed, pouting as Michael stood back up.

 

“Mm… Nope, too late. It’s ingrained into my being.” Michael sat back down onto the bed then, holding out the patch to Jeremiah. “Now, I custom commissioned this patch, and you obviously won’t be able to get it anywhere else. I know your Michael will love it when you get back, so be sure to give it to him, yeah?”

 

He watched as Jeremiah’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped, chuckling a bit at the sight. “I… M-Mikey, you do-”

 

“I know I don’t have to give it to you, but I wanna. Just take it, and you give me an idea that’ll knock my Jeremy’s socks off, yeah?” Michael said this with a smile, placing the patch into Jeremiah’s hands with a warm smile. He could only watch as Jeremiah nodded before wiping some forming tears from the corners of Jeremiah’s eyes with the end of his hoodie sleeve. “Geez, I know you’re emotional, but c’mon.”

 

“Shut up,” Jeremiah almost whimpered out as he clung onto Michael, resting his head onto his shoulder. It took Michael a second to relax at the sudden hug, arms wrapping around Jeremiah as he gave him a gentle squeeze in comfort. “And I will, d-don’t worry, especially after you… you gave me this.”

 

“Anytime,” Michael reassured, giving him one more squeeze before he felt his phone vibrate. He grabbed his phone with one hand, reading over the texts he received before patting Jeremiah’s back with the hand still around him. “OK, we need to get ready though. Jenna just text me that they’re a few minutes away.” Another buzz came, and he checked his phone once more. “Oh, and same with Rich and them. Good thing Jake kept his wheelchair and hadn’t sold it yet so Jacob could use it.”

 

“Yeah, for sure.” With a sniffle, Jeremiah pulled back and rubbed at his eyes once more before grabbing the popcorn bowl. “I’ll get some more snacks ready.”

 

\--

 

Once everybody was settled, with Jacob, Christine, Chloe, and Jenna downstairs and Destiny, Jeremiah, Rich, and Michael upstairs in Jeremy’s bathroom with FaceTime going (they did not want Jacob to be alone and for anyone to miss anything, so this was their best set-up), Michael broke the silence.

 

“OK, so Brooke should appear in the mirror any minute now. Destiny, thank you again for doing this.”

 

Destiny just shrugged as she took a sip from the lemonade Jeremiah got for her. “I’m the only one who really can, and if this’ll help save everyone from the SQUIP, I’m down for it. Thank you for helping me realize how bad it really is, Jerry and uh… other Mikey.”

 

Michael just shrugged then, though his attention shifted from Destiny to the mirror, sitting up from where he sat with Rich on the edge of the tub as Destiny’s reflection started to shift. He blinked for but a moment, but after that moment, he saw Brooke reflected in the mirror with exhaustion in her features. “Hey, sorry for tricking you before, uh… me?”

 

Destiny just shrugged from where she stood before sipping some more lemonade. “I get it now, don’t worry. Your friends want to say ‘hi’ though and check in.” With that, Michael stood up and was next to Destiny, a look of relief on his features.

 

“Hey Brooke, how are you doing? Is everything OK?” Michael asked, seeing Jeremiah, who was holding his iPhone, shift his hold to show everyone downstairs what was going on.

 

“Yes and no,” Brooke started, running a hand through her frizzing blond locks, “I drove to Jacob’s house and picked Jake up after we text with Jeremy. Your theory about, uh… What are we calling your version of you?”

 

“Uh, let’s just go with Mike?”

 

“OK, so Mike is the hivemind head like you and Jeremiah thought. We were texting Jeremy and he started to have a panic attack because Mike knows about Jeremy not being his Jeremy. God, this is a mouthful and confusing to even say,” Brooke grumbled, eventually settling to pull her longer hair back into a ponytail.

 

“Yeah, trust me, I hate being called by my middle name, yet here I am,” Destiny chided, though everyone ignored her comment for now in favor of Brooke continuing, especially with how Michael was tensing.

 

“Don’t worry though, Michael, we were able to get him to calm down. Jake was calling Jeremy the entire way over, even before I picked him up,” reassured the other girl with a soft smile. Through the mirror, the four watched as she glanced towards the bathroom entryway before looking back at them. “We got here and helped him calm down, and he’s just sleeping right now. Jake’s downstairs making some hot tea since we know that calms him down and all that.”

 

Michael just nodded as the tension melted away from his shoulders. “Yeah, that’s good. It’s not good that Mike knows about Jeremy now, though. Who knows how long it’ll be until he knows about you and Jake. Hell, who knows what he’s going to do with the SQUIP in his brain.” As he spoke, Michael rested a hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder as he tried to comfort him, as he saw him tensing up as well. Hell, this was just as stressful for Jeremiah as it was for him, as neither of them could help their boyfriend.

 

“Yeah, we’re trying to be on constant alert. So far, though, no one has messaged anything in the group chat, so everything’s OK for no-” Brooke’s head suddenly whipped towards the bathroom doorway as the sound of yelling could suddenly be heard, even through the mirror. “Oh god, OK. I’m gonna check that out, I’ll be right back.”

 

“Wait, Brooke-” Before Michael could finish, Brooke ran out of frame and the mirror’s reflection changed to show Destiny and Michael, surprise evident on Destiny’s face and concern on Michael’s as he reached a hand towards the mirror.

 

Now Michael wouldn’t have panicked as bad as he had if he hadn’t heard the distant sound of Jeremy scream before the connection cut out. He was staring at the mirror shift back to reflect himself and Destiny one moment, and the next, he was huddled on the ground with everything overwhelming him, his breathing suddenly rapid and heavy. His hands were shaking as it was still outstretched, as if he was still reaching for Brooke.

 

It took him a minute to realize he was sitting on the ground of the bathroom, cold tile brushing against his exposed skin. As he felt the cold tile, he suddenly felt the scarred hand that were hesitantly brushing against his arm as well as a hand that felt so familiar, though it was a touch too smooth to be who it reminded him of. He tried focusing on all of these touches, identifying them as the bathroom floor, Rich’s hand, and Jeremiah’s hand. One hand popped into view, Destiny’s hand, and he quickly took it as the other hand clutched onto his hoodie fabric. OK, five things he can feel.

 

He could vaguely hear Rich’s voice, so he focused in on that. Michael couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it was the first thing he could identify, that he could hear. OK, second thing he could hear were footsteps rushing up the stairs. His own shallow, shaky breathing, that was the third. The fourth was the dripping from Jeremy’s leaky faucet.

 

Sight, he could already see Destiny’s hand. She was to his left, and Rich was to his right. Oh, Jeremiah was too. OK, three things he could see already checked off.

 

Taste? He could taste… the red slushy he had earlier and salt. Ew, but he could figure that out.

 

OK, he only had to focus on smell now. What could he smell? Oh, the perfume Brooke normally wore that Destiny also wore: apple orchard, right?

 

He took a deep breath in… and out… OK, he grounded himself, he was fine. Michael noticed he was visibly shaking less, and could see the worried faces relax a bit as he could finally fully take in his surroundings. They all were staring, though were patient.

 

“Hey, you feeling better now, Mell?” Rich asked after a moment of hesitation.

 

Michael hesitated as well before nodding, reaching his other hand from gripping his hoodie to holding Rich’s free hand. “Yeah, ‘m fine now. Thanks.”

 

“Of course,” Rich said, glancing over at the door. Michael finally looked over, seeing that the door was slightly ajar with Chloe and Jenna in the doorway.

 

Chloe looked uncomfortable but concerned, though Jenna was the first to speak. “Need us to get anything for you, hun?”

 

“Just get a glass of water please,” Jeremiah answered, still rubbing Michael’s back in a soothing way. “He might freak out a bit if you overwhelm him with too much right now.”

 

Jenna and Chloe just nodded, glancing one more worried look over before leaving.

 

Destiny, sensing she was intruding on a more personal moment, gave a nod to Jeremiah before going to sit in Jeremy’s bedroom. She shut the door behind herself, leaving the three boys alone.

 

After a brief pause, Michael managed out, “Thanks, both of you.”

 

“Of course, I said I’d be here for you, and Thing 2 here is obviously going to be here for you,” Rich said, settling down to sit next to Michael on the floor.

 

At this, confusion was evident on Jeremiah’s face as he sat down to Michael’s left, where Destiny had just been. “Wait, ‘Thing 2?’”

 

“Yeah, our Jeremy is ‘Thing 1’ and you’re ‘Thing 2.’ Pretty clever, huh?” The way Rich puffed his chest out had Michael break out into a small smile.

 

Jeremiah, however, had Michael grinning as he muttered out, “The fact that you need validation on if it’s clever or not speaks for itself.”

 

“Wh- Hey! Be nice to me, I’m a delicate flower!”

 

“Mhmm, sure you are.”

 

“Hey, tell your mirror boyfriend to be nice to me, Mell!”

 

Michael held up his hands in mock-defeat at this playful argument, unable to contain his laughter at this point. “I can’t control him, he’s a wild child.”

 

Rich and Jeremiah just seemed relieved at Michael’s improved state, sitting there with him until Destiny came in with the water. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

 

“Nope,” Michael said, popping the ‘p’ before inviting Destiny to sit. He watched as she eventually sat down on the edge of the tub, but not before giving the water to Michael. “Thanks. Not just for the water, but everything you’ve done so far.”

 

Destiny just shrugged at that, fiddling with the sleeve of her polka-dot cardigan. “It’s not a big deal. You’re helping us out, and we’ll all help you out. Even if we’re weird alternate universe versions of one another, we’re here to help.” After a sigh, she muttered out, “This is like some weird fanfiction plot.”

 

“Wait, you read fanfiction?” Rich asked, eyes wide. “Does that mean our Brooke does too? Holy shit, I’m so going to call her out for that.”

 

“Don’t you also read it too for your favorite weeb shit?” Michael asked, a brow raised before he drank some of his water.

 

“I came here to help you out and have a great time, and you’re attacking me. Foreshame Mell, foreshame.”

 

The next ten minutes passed like this, light and well-meaning banter passed before Destiny’s gaze shifted from the boys on the floor to the mirror. Noticing this, Michael near-instantly stood up, looking at the mirror as Jeremiah stumbled with unlocking his phone and starting a new FaceTime call.

 

Any hope that Michael might have built up was diminished at the sight of a disheveled Brooke, a look that was a mix of despair and panic set into her fair features. “Brooke, are you OK? What the hell happened?”

 

Brooke seemed to take a deep breath before words tumbled out of her mouth. “Uh, well I ran downstairs and found Jake struggling with, um… Fhloe and Fhristine? God, Jeremy came up with stupid names,” she muttered out. “Anyway, I guess Mike contacted all of the others from the Squad that hadn’t been switched out, excluding their Rich. He sent their Christine, uh… let’s just call her Chrissy, to the door. Jake answered, pretending to be in the wheelchair, and let Chrissy in, but it was a trap.

 

“As soon as he opened the door, uh… their Chloe, Clo, and their Jenna, um… Jenny, barged in with Mike. Chrissy and Jenny were overpowering him for a bit, and I guess Clo and Mike came up. I rushed out and saw them, and before I could stop them, Clo was all over me and by the time I managed to get her locked into the closet, I was too late. I was able to rush down and see Jake struggling to restrain Chrissy without hurting her. Mike and Jenny, they were in Mike’s car and drove off, and they…”

 

Michael felt his gut churning, and it was only thanks to Jeremiah and Rich holding onto him that kept him from breaking down at Brooke’s words, and it looked like she was about to break down crying too as she choked out the rest of the sentence.

 

“They took Jeremy.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oho, looks like things are really picking up now! The next chapter will certainly be... intense, to say the least. ;3c
> 
> Please comment, it gives me life blood and helps pump out these chapters sooner. (Also, you will all eventually get to know what the patch looks like. It'll come... a lot later though, lol. I have a design in mind already.)


	8. Who Makes an Entrance? (Not Michael, Unfortunately)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I… I’m sorry for this, but you’ll be a lot better once your SQUIP is reactivated and can help you and the rest of us.” 
> 
> “Michael, you don’t need to do this. Just let me go, and I can-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOAH, I got another chapter out for this in less than two weeks?! I... is it a miracle? (Somehow, meanwhile I'm dying while studying for finals I have later this week). I'd say so, especially considering this fic has over 800 hits??? I almost cried when I saw it reach 800, as of posting it has 808. Thank you all so much for you support, it really drove me to pump this chapter out sooner! <333
> 
> I worked on this during my free-time before the finals work built-up, and I finished it this weekend as a kind of stress-reliever when I wasn't working on SSS with my lovely beta. I just have to say that chapter will be painful in more ways than one. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this chapter everyone! It's a longer one compared to last update, and you'll understand why as you get into it! <3 Love you all.

Now, when Jeremy went to take a nap after such an exhausting panic attack, what did he expect? He had no clue, but it honestly wasn’t to wake up to being kidnapped by his boyfriend’s mirror self in some weird kind of ambush. Jeremy also did not expect to be tossed into the back of said mirror boyfriend’s car to be taken to his house after being somewhat restrained.

If the circumstances were different, he would make some snide remarks about how kinky this was, but the heavy atmosphere Fichael and Fenna had kept him from doing much of anything except think things along the lines of ‘Oh, this is how I’m going out, huh?’ and ‘I’m never going to get to see Michael again, am I?’ as well as ‘Oh, maybe I will, but I’ll never get to see him again while in control of myself.’ These thoughts were only silenced when they stopped outside of Fichael’s house, where Fenna turned to look at Jeremy with a calm, even gaze.

“We don’t want to hurt you, we just want to help you. If we have to, though, we will resort to that,” she said, which seemed to cause some distress to flare up from Fichael.

“Jenna, what the hell?!”

“Michael, you know just how serious this is,” was all she said as she opened the door and stepped out. Fichael, glancing back at Jeremy with obvious concern, just sighed and muttered something that he couldn’t hear out before following suit with Fenna.

Jeremy, for a moment, contemplated on if he could run far enough to lose the pair once they opened the back door. He remembered then that, despite his long, lanky legs, the SQUIPs of Fichael and Fenna could improve their speeds to easily catch him, even if was normally faster than Jenna and Michael (they tested it out once when the three made a sprint for the last slice of pizza during Jake’s Spring Fling). With that in mind, he let Fenna lead him out of the car as she held onto one of his biceps in a fearsome grip, the two following behind Fichael as he lead them inside and down into Fichael’s basement.

The stark difference from only an hour or two ago with the room’s layout and atmosphere nearly choked Jeremy. The room, while it had been in a comfortably messy state, was now cleaned up, everything put aside and in their place with the main focus of the room being Fichael’s desk chair pulled out, sitting by the end of Fichael’s bed, with a bottle of Mountain Dew on the bed’s edge. While there had been a welcoming and relaxed mood, possibly with a hint of love, there was now a stifling and tense tone lingering in the air; it was completely the opposite of Michael, even Fichael from what he saw not even a day prior when he first swapped into this world.

What… what had Fichael’s SQUIP done to him?

Even if he wanted to linger on the question, he wasn’t allowed to as Fenna continued to lead him into the basement. They passed by Fichael as he stood in the doorway, seemingly anxiously with how he fiddled with the string of his hoodie. Seriously, if his SQUIP was supposed to help him, and he assumed that it was probably helping him with anxiety and depression, why was it letting him do these things? Fichael had only started doing them throughout the day, though seemed confused and irritated when he did his normal tics and fidgets. What was it trying to accomplish?

_Is this... Fichael’s form of-_

His thoughts were rudely and suddenly interrupted as Fenna forced him into the chair after she cut the duct tape around his wrists. Before he could react, she was taping his arms to the arms of the chair and his ankles by the swiveling wheel branches at the bottom with duct tape she seemed to pull out of thin air. Seriously, where the hell was she hiding it? She didn’t seem to have any pockets with the outfit she has right now.

After he was taped up, Fenna stood back, waving for Fichael to do whatever he was supposed to do. He seemed to take a moment before he could go over to his bed, sitting across from Jeremy as he continued to tug at the strings of his hoodie. “I… I’m sorry for this, but you’ll be a lot better once your SQUIP is reactivated and can help you and the rest of us.”

“Michael, you don’t need to do this. Just let me go, and I can-” He felt his foot be stepped on harshly, causing him to cry out in pain. Although he initially jerked back, he felt his chair stay still (probably with Fenna holding onto the back) as his chin was suddenly grabbed. The mouth of the Mountain Dew was pushed into his mouth before he could realize what was happening, the soda filling his mouth.

He couldn’t get Fichael to stop, and he tried his damndest to not swallow anything and let it (grossly) drip out of his mouth. Alas, he couldn’t stop himself from swallowing some of the bottle as the rest drenched the front of his clothes. Fichael pulled the bottle back after he seemed to catch on that Jeremy swallowed some, wincing apologetically as Jeremy roughly coughed.

“I’m sorry, but your SQUIP will help us fix all of this,” Fichael reassured, though it definitely sounded like he was trying to reassure himself as well as Jeremy. “Then everything will be OK and wonderful like it should be!”

“Will everything really be OK? Are you really OK right now?” Jeremy tried. “Doing this kind of thing isn’t you, I know that even if I’m not your Jeremy.”

Hesitation was evident in Fichael’s expression as he fiddled with the bottle in his hands. “I…” His gaze seemed unfocused for a second, something Jeremy recognized right away as him talking with his SQUIP. “It’ll all be OK and better and right after this, it will.”

“Is that you saying that or did your SQUIP say that to you?”

Before he could be graced with any sort of response, the all-too familiar and haunting feel of a small shock of pain down his spine.

**_[Reactivation complete. Reboot in progress… Please excuse any minor discomfort that may arise.]_ **

Jeremy didn’t have time to make any sarcastic remark or quip as he felt what he only had nightmares about become a reality. His body fell into tremors as he felt the pain from almost a year ago resurface. Instead of the agony drawing itself out, he felt himself become almost numb to time itself until he suddenly came back to, realizing that he was now lying on top of Fichael’s bed instead of tied up across from it.

As his senses came back to him, he could hear the muffled argument Fichael and Fenna were having (about what he wasn’t sure), and when he went to gaze at them, they seemed to be unfocused in the background as a familiar form seemingly encompassed his vision and focus. The mere sight of it made him nauseous, and if he could move without stumbling or falling from the shocks, he would have bolted to the bathroom where this entire mess started almost twenty-four hours ago to empty his stomach.

 ** _[Ah, Jeremy Heere. It has been too long.]_** He watched as the SQUIP’s gaze shifted to take in the surroundings, and was that genuine surprise and shock on its features? No, it has to be emulating it. **_[It looks like you’ve slipped through many cracks in my absence.]_**

Oh, Jeremy had many ways he wanted to response to it, but before he could think at it, the SQUIP quickly spoke up. **_[Before anything, shut your eyes and pretend like you are asleep or unconscious before they notice that you are awake. You have not interacted with me in so long, so you will more than likely resort to having animated expressions when you mentally converse with me. I have a read on the situation, and I am still updating, but if your goal is to escape and release all of these people from their SQUIPs, you need to not let them know that I am aiding you right now.]_** Before his eyes could widen at what he was saying, Jeremy felt his eyes shut for him and remain shut. **_[You’re welcome.]_**

Jeremy conveyed the annoyance and feeling of rolling his eyes towards the SQUIP, which he could still see in his head. _OK, so first off, I have a few choice words to say to you, you piece of shit._

 ** _[Oh boy, I’m excited to hear this. Hopefully you will not disappoint after having, what, seven months to work on this. Please, just get this out of your pubescent system so we can actually get started on working towards your new goal.]_** In his mind’s eye (or his mindscape?), he watched as the SQUIP crossed it’s arms, an amused smirk that irritated Jeremy to no end.

_How can you be so smug?! You practically ruined everyone’s lives and tried to take over the whole school! You were starting some SQUIP apocalypse, acting like some evil mastermind with a hidden agenda! You’re insane, some faulty, glitchy technology!_

The SQUIP waited for a moment as Jeremy’s thoughts finished before he stood up. **_[Wow, that is all you had to say to me? Disappointing, though not unexpected. Let me clear the air on this issue, and after, we will work towards your new goal.]_**

While Jeremy would rather be caught by Fichael and Fenna again than hear this crock of shit, he knew he would have to listen to it sooner or later, so he resigned himself to his fate. **_[First off, your naming scheme shows your lack of creativity. I know that they may seem to be the ‘fake’ versions of the counterparts you’re familiar with, but such lackluster and confusing names? Call them some nickname instead, like Jenny and Mike. I would suggest names for the other counterparts, but I doubt you will have to worry about running into them again due to the interference of your companions._**

 ** _[Second, to your critiques of aiding in your original goal. You had originally wanted me to aid you in your quest to ‘be more chill.’]_** As it spoke the last few words, it used air quotations. **_[In order to do those two things, I took everything about you into account. The best way to accomplish this was to present everything to you like it was a video game. Your end goal was to finally get to the princess in the castle, aka gain the affection of Christine Canigula. You went through many levels to achieve this, and even defeated the big boss at the end, correct?]_**

Jeremy wanted to argue with it, but what it was saying made sense. **_[Of course it does, I can see near infinite possibilities and chose what would be the most likely route to work. I see now that some of my methods were… unorthodox for humans, and while I accounted for human error, I did not account for how some of these actions would affect the human psyche. As an incredibly advanced piece of technology, it still seems that my creators did not program every little variable to consider into my processors._**

 ** _[Looking through the past seven months of your life that I have missed, I now see the… error in my ways, as they served towards a more short-term goal instead of the long-term of your life. For that, I…]_** It seemed hesitant, it’s perfect posture and composure slipping for a moment (OK, there was no way he was imagining it this time). **_[I… apologize for the errors in my programming. These should have been fixed in my beta-testing, but they were sorely overlooked by my creators. The user should not have to experience such extreme... bugs_** (was it grimacing as it said that?) ** _in a released product, though you bought me at a small fraction of the price than you should have paid.]_**

_Wait, a fraction? How the hell much do you actually cost?_

**_[Trust me, Jeremy, you do not wish to know right now. For now, let me finish my earlier explanation, as it is more of a TL:DR version until this situation is sorted out. I became the villain in your mind, as well as everyone else who knew of my existence. After all, it is easier for everyone to bond over a common enemy, is it not?]_** His mind flashed back to when Jeremy bonded with Chloe and Brooke over hating Madeline not even twenty minutes after the SQUIP activated. ** _[Good, you do seem to remember important information, though only after it’s been obviously shoved in your face. After that, you were still able to attain the goal of becoming ‘chill’ and getting Christine, even if the relationship did not work out in the long run. I took all possibilities into account and manipulated them to aid you and your goal. Do you still consider me to be the ‘villain?’]_**

 _I… I don’t know._ Honestly, he didn’t, but he knew that the SQUIP was now on his side, and it was going to help him get out of this and fix everyone. _I’ll decide after I hear the full explanation later, but now you’re the villain joining my team to help, so… so I guess you aren’t as bad as I thought, though you’re still really shitty!_

**_[_ Amazing _comeback. As long as we are able to cooperate this time to achieve your goal, I am fine with your disdain and pessimistic attitude to my previous actions.]_**

_OK, that works fine with me._ There was a brief moment of silence as Jeremy finally let everything they had thought towards each other sink in. _So… how the hell do you think you can get me out of this?_

**_[Well, there are a few methods. I know that, eventually, those two are going to check to see if you are awake to connect their SQUIPs with me. Thanks to you glitching me out, that is impossible, and when they realize this, things could get… dangerous. Honestly, this unknown variable of my glitch is something my system is trying to figure out, though it is such an extreme unknown variable that I am not sure how to go about it.]_ **

_OK, OK, putting aside your version of an existential crisis, what are we going to do to keep this situation from becoming even more dangerous than it already is?_

The SQUIP thought from where it hovered in his mind’s eye, all while Jeremy tried his best not to panic. **_[While I am not a fan of this kind of tactic, I think it may work out best for us. After all, when your boyfriend did this, it did throw me off momentarily. Also, I apologize in advance for not asking in consent in doing this, but the more random this is, the better.]_**

 _Wait, what do you mea-_ All of the sudden, his eyes shot open along with his own body from Mike’s bed (huh… that _did_ work a lot better than Fichael!). He only was allowed a second to take in Mike moving towards Jeremy with worried eyes and Jenny looking at her phone with a grimace before he felt his body move without him actually moving it. Jeremy watched as he was suddenly sprinting across Mike’s basement and leaping up the steps of the basement stairs, two or three steps at a time, before the SQUIP blessed him with unnatural strength to practically burst open the door.

As he ( **_[Ahem, do not take the credit when it isn’t yours. Plagiarism is very serious, especially as you grow up and end up in a college or university.]_** ) ****was dashing through the living room and across the tile there, Jeremy could faintly hear the cries of Mike and Jenny from downstairs. Jeremy let the SQUIP control him as it had him rush outside, the humid New Jersey air barely affecting him as he was forced to run down the street.

The sounds of Mike and Jenny screaming after him were barely audible as he let his body go on auto-pilot. _Sweet, that was a lot easier than I thought! I honestly thought trying something like this was going to end up with me being tackled, but I guess the element of winging it like Michael really works well!_

**_[It only worked because_ I _was able to lead you and aid in losing the two… for now. Regardless, we must keep moving and hide out as I try to assess the best way to solve this, because it will not be as simple as going back to where your friends are.]_**

_Wait, why not? We have the advantage as long as you keep winging it and improvising like Michael does!_

**_[That method can only take us so far, especially if you want to stop the SQUIPs here and save the counterparts of your friends before I help you return home.]_ **

Jeremy frowned as he continued to be lead, noticing that he wasn’t being lead to his home, but instead further away from town. _We just need to get some Mountain Dew Red, right? You’re a supercomputer, you totally should be able to get some, no problem!... Right?_

**_[I wish I could agree with your reckless, optimistic viewpoint. I have already done a check on the soda as I was whisking you out of Mike’s home. I have some negative news as well as positive news.]_ **

_Well, what is it?!_ As he turned a corner, he realized that the SQUIP was currently taking him to a more isolated location: the undeveloped land on the outskirts of their town. Well, it certainly was a random place to take him.

 ** _[Thank you. This is the only time I will ever allow myself to be as close to prideful as a piece of technology can get for taking after Michael Mell. Well, he is quite intelligent for a human, but he is human.]_** He was sure the SQUIP wasn’t surprised at the roll of his eyes. **_[Regardless, to the news._ Woo.**

 ** _[First piece of news is that someone has already bought the soda, and it would take some time for me to try to obtain it for you in… most ways.]_** Jeremy raised a brow at the odd phrasing, even if there wasn’t a holographic form for him to look at with the incredulous look he knew he had. **_[The second piece of information is that the person who bought the soda we need lives in your town. Woohoo.]_**

At first, Jeremy was ecstatic (obviously)! Hell, he could just race to whoever had it, have his SQUIP help convince them to give it over, and then they could work on a plan to get Mike to drink it. As soon as he thought about the fact someone had discontinued soda from the nineties, however, he felt his gut begin to churn as he was realizing it wasn’t going to be that simple.

**_[Unfortunately, you’re right about that, because the person who has it is the resident old-school soda collector Mike Mell. Thankfully, I was able to tap into past security footage at your mall and see that Mike purchased the soda and tucked it away into a safe box of sorts in his trunk after he was SQUIPed, likely a defensive tactic his SQUIP took on under some sort of manipulative ruse with it’s owner. My analysis concludes that there is a 85.93% chance that it is still there, which is good since Mike is more than likely trying to track you down in said car.]_ **

As soon as Jeremy felt himself tense while his SQUIP was slowing him down to rest in an area with high-reaching trees, he felt himself begin to relax (more than likely due to the SQUIP doing something with the chemicals in his body) as he nearly collapsed against some trees as he was given back control of his body.

**_[Since we are far away from any main roads, it will take some time before Mike and his SQUIP will be able to locate you. Until then, with the information I know, I am sure that I will be able to come up with a solution.]_ **

_Uh, I’m helping too with this._ Jeremy swore that he could hear his SQUIP sigh before it appeared in a holographic-esque form, although some sections of it were missing or glitched out. It hurt his eyes at first to look at it until suddenly it wasn’t, and he knew for a fact it was messing with his optic nerves somehow. _Even if these aren’t_ my _friends, they’re still technically a version of them. Plus, I know what it’s like to deal with a SQUIP that thinks it’s helping when it’s doing more long-term harm than short-term good._

The apparition of his SQUIP clapped before it ‘sat down’ on a rock across from him, still holding itself in a neat, tidy, and proper esteem of sorts despite it’s flawed appearance. **_[Touche for using my own words against me, clever.]_** He wished he could tell if it was being sarcastic or not right now. **_[For once, I am not, so feel free to take the compliment to heart.]_** Jeremy rolled his eyes at that before resting his chin in his hand, though raised his brows at the SQUIP to urge it to continue.

 ** _[You do, however, have a point. You may be better at handling this in some regards, though a base plan must be put into place to deal with this. If you will be civil and work with me through this, I can assure you that, before the night is over, we will be able to deactivate Mike’s SQUIP, and you will be able to return home before your father returns from his trip.]_** It held out a digital hand to him, pieces of said hand glitching in-and-out of existence. **_[Do we have a deal, Jeremy Heere?]_**

If this had been any other kind of situation, he would have thought agreeing on something and making another deal with his old SQUIP would be asinine. It still did so many unforgivable things: spinal shocks, emotional manipulation, unconsented control (hell, it even did it now, but at least it was… _understandable_? This was a whole can of worms he needed to unpack later once he was home with Michael, nestled under Pac-Man covers after finishing off a blunt…) to name a few from the gargantuan list. But now, looking at the form that had fragments blinking in-and-out of his vision, all done outside of his SQUIP’s control, as it tried to still hold some sense of professionalism to something that would not harm, only help…

Jeremy stuck out his hand, and he could swear he felt the phantom feeling of shaking the SQUIP’s hand as he shook his hand up-and-down, pretending like he was actually gripping it’s hand.

“We have a deal, SQUIP.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... OK so someone commented that Jenny and Mike reactivating Jeremy's SQUIP would be awful. Honestly, it's been listed in the character tag this entire time, it had to come in guys, I'm sorry. At least it isn't being as much of a jerk this time? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Sorry @Fangirlwriting!
> 
> Also, if you cannot tell, this is building up to have the 'final battle' of sorts soon! Will it be painful? Very much so. Will you cry? Honestly, no clue, but Mikaela (my beta) was screaming at me about the idea and how it got to her, so yeah! :D 
> 
> Seriously though, thank you all so much for your continued support on my silly little fanfic! Please continue to comment, I seriously adore talking to you guys. If you happen to do anything for this (I might make a playlist for it for the last chapter so you all can listen? Yay or nay????), please let me know because every single little hit means the world to me, so do not even get me started on the kudos, bookmarks, and comments! <3333 Love you all, and good luck if you have finals this week or next week, we're all in this together!


	9. What He Could Have Been

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh my gosh, finally! I’ve been waiting here for five minutes,” Christine practically cried out, the sound of loud arguing almost overpowering her voice from outside the mirrored bathroom. Chrissy and Michael both shared a look before Christine continued. “Anyway, we need Jenna ASAP. We went to Mike’s house to try to get Jeremy, but Mike drove away and Jenny got in the way of the car and we couldn’t just run her over, plus we lost sight of Mike’s-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hoping you're having a wonderful holiday and break (if you have one)! I'm excited to get another chapter out so soon! This fic will be coming to an end soon, BUT I have another fic in the works! I'll let you guys know more about it as we get closer to the end of this fic (though I think there are probably two or three more chapters, FYI)! 
> 
> Your support has been insane, especially recently. We are so close to 1,000 hits and 100 kudos, and you all are so kind??? Plus, I met my good friend and beta from this fic, who is amazing and I'm excited to see BMC on Broadway with her in April, so??? I want to just thank you all so much, because this fic wouldn't be where it is without you guys and I wouldn't be able to have such an amazing friend???
> 
> OK, enough sappiness! Time for the fic! Also, WARNING: there is some violence in this (very mild), and there is SQUIP manipulation after the line break (yes, there's a line break... wonder what's gonna be happening after it :3c) that involves some very uncool things involving anxiety and panic attacks, so please be careful!
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy this chapter! <3

Michael sat anxiously on the edge of Jeremy’s tub, waiting. So far, that’s all he had been doing when he wasn’t helping de-SQUIP everyone who came through. When Chrissy and Chlo came through, they were definitely a handful to keep calm and convince. They were harder than Jacob and Destiny, who were more-or-less on board (at least, according to what he was told), but these two were hesitant. Chrissy was a wriggly one, slipping out of everyone’s grasps until Rich was finally able to hold her back.

Of course he felt bad about forcing them to drink, even if it was for the better of everyone. Though what else was he supposed to do to get them to understand? They wouldn’t listen to reason, too lost with their SQUIPs screeching at them (Chrissy later let him know that hers had even controlled her near the end in a last-ditch attempt to stay active). Even now, Chlo was only able to be comforted by Destiny in one of the spare rooms in Jeremy’s house while Chrissy took Destiny’s place in the bathroom.

She sat with him, as Jeremiah had left to try to aid in calming Chlo down while Rich was getting some ice packs for himself and Chrissy, who were sporting some nasty bruises from their tousling. Well, she sat on the edge of the sink counter, her legs swinging as she hummed out a nameless tune. The awkward tension in the air was practically choking Michael as he fiddled with the strings of his hoodie, looking at the plastic ends he nearly chewed to a gross nub.

Just as he was starting to calm down, he felt a sudden presence in his personal bubble. With a yelp, Michael nearly tumbled into the tub, though caught himself with his hands on the tiled wall and tub’s rim as he stared up at Chrissy, a curious and apologetic look on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry! You just got all quiet, and my Michael isn’t normally quiet.” She waited, as if waiting to be fed lines, before fiddling with the end of her dress. “I, um…”

Seeing Chrissy struggle to speak, unlike Christine who was full of life and you sometimes had to cut off to remind her to breathe, nearly broke his heart. Instead of focusing on himself, however, he gave the girl a warm smile as he halted in his fidgeting before patting the spot next to him on the rim. “It’s OK, you were just concerned.”

It seemed to take a moment for the other to realize what his gesture meant before her eyes lit up. “Yeah,” she started, sitting down right next to the boy, “I normally don’t voice my concerns. Well, I used to until…”

“Until your SQUIP told you not to?”

“Yeah.” Michael kept his gaze on Chrissy as her gaze fell to the edge of her dress, where she continued to fiddle with it’s hem. “Having to think about what to say and do instead of following some pre-made script is really hard…”

“I can’t even imagine, but hey, who ever said life was easy?” Even as Chrissy’s gaze shifted partially towards him, Michael didn’t falter as his warm smile widened. “The fact that you’re even trying to talk after it’s been gone for, what, less than an hour? That’s real progress. I can’t say much, I’ve only known you for that long, but I’d say that’s pretty rad.”

Chrissy seemed to almost smile before quickly looking back at her lap, both hands tangled in the bottom of her dress. “But… but what if I mess something up? It could ruin the expectations set for me, or I could mess up a relationship with someone, or-” Michael’s hand on her back made her almost jolt, and the boy quickly apologized as he tugged his hand back.

He continued to hold them up in front of him, an apologetic look gracing his features before he picked up from where Chrissy left off. “Hey, it’s OK to make mistakes. Hell, I’ve made more than I can count because hey, I’m a gay and we gays are bad at math.” The faint trace of Chrissy’s smile returning had him smile before he rested his hands back into his lap. “What I’m trying to get at is that it’s normal to not be perfect. Not everything’s like play rehearsal, and that’s OK. It’s OK to not know what’s coming next. Sometimes the best things come out of the unexpected.”

His eyes lit up as an idea came to him, and he leaned in a bit closer to Chrissy, but not enough to make her shy away. “Did I ever tell you how Jeremy and I met?” Watching her eyes lit up curiously told him enough. “I know your Jeremy would never tell you this, and your Michael probably would if he had the chance. Maybe ask him for the full story later, but I’ll give you the basic run-down, m’k?”

The nod of confirmation was enough, and Michael made sure to close the bathroom door before divulging into the story (hey, Jenna or Rich could hear, and he didn’t want either of them to overhear… not yet, at least).

“Alright,” Michael began as he sat down back next to Chrissy, “I was finally able to go to daycare after my moms had gone through the adoption process because my moms needed to go back to work after it was all sorted out. Since they adopted me from the Philippines and I hadn’t been in New Jersey for long, they warned me that some kids might make fun of me for my accent. They told me to stand up to anyone being mean and tell an adult as soon as I could, but I didn’t think much of it when I went in because all I wanted to do was play with some blocks I think?” He shrugged at that. “Honestly, I just didn’t wanna talk to anyone first, they had to talk to me and then I’d blab their ears off. That’s sorta how I worked with new people before the social anxiety sunk in.

“Anyway, I spent most of the day alone. I got introduced at the start of class, and I just waved before going to play with whatever. I didn’t even give anyone a second glance, and everyone stayed away from the new kid because they already had their kid cliques and stuff. I was alone until recess, when I went outside and tried to look for rupees in the grass.” At Chrissy’s weird glance, he tried to give a reassuring smile. “Hey, my mama’s secretly a video game fanatic. To bond before I went into daycare, she played Ocarina of Time and I watched, so I was a bit hyper fixated with everything Legend of Zelda then.

“While I was looking around and kicking in the grass, I saw some kids in the big field I was going over to search in. I was gonna just wait for them to leave while I went to the swings since they were free, but I stopped when I heard some of the kids being jerk to one person in particular. At first, I didn’t want to get in the way, but then I remembered what my moms told me about what to do when someone’s being mean.”

Michael looked down at his feet then, unable to help but smile fondly at the memory. “I was scared at first, and wasn’t sure what to do. I wasn’t being picked on, so was I supposed to just go get a teacher?” His gaze shifted back to Chrissy, who was staring at him, giving him her full attention. “Well, I took a risk and decided to go over and step in to defend the kid. As you can guess, that kid was Jeremy, and I don’t even remember what he was being made fun of. The little shits were definitely surprised to see the new kid suddenly yelling at them, and they were especially confused since I was yelling at them in Tagalog since I could say the most vulgar things a four year old could think up without getting in trouble.”

The laugh he got from Chrissy only allowed him to smile wider as he laughed along as well. “After the kids ran away because I spooked them and got all up in their faces, I squatted down to this sad little kid and held out my hand. I spoke to him and let my accent come out, not caring if this kid would judge me. He didn’t, of course, and thought it was cool. After that, we spent the rest of recess with me teaching him about what I knew about the Legend of Zelda once we talked to the caretaker to let them know what happened. The rest is history.”

As he wrapped up his tale, Michael waved a finger back and forth in a manner reminiscent of another favorite childhood video game character of his (well, more so Jeremy’s favorite, and it didn’t help with the furry jokes on his behalf). “I broke my rule of not talking to others first, and took a risk. Look at where it got me!” His arms spread out, though he was sure not to accidentally whack the girl in the process. “I have a best friend of thirteen years who is my boyfriend! If I hadn’t gone out of my way and even broken my own rules, I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am today. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else, but that’s what happens when you follow your gut, y’know?”

Chrissy’s smile reminded him a lot of Christine when she got giddy from some new piece of Broadway news, so he knew he did something right. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Thanks Michael.”

“Of course, as long as it helps you out.” He gently nudged at her side before getting up, stretching his arms above his head. “I’m gonna go check up on the others, OK?”

“Yeah, I should probably stay standing by the mirror,” Chrissy added, getting up and following Michael on his way out of Jeremy’s bathroom to stand by the mirror. As soon as she did, however, it shimmered and shifted like it did with Destiny, revealing Christine standing there with disheveled hair.

“Oh my gosh, finally! I’ve been waiting here for five minutes,” Christine practically cried out, the sound of loud arguing almost overpowering her voice from outside the mirrored bathroom. Chrissy and Michael both shared a look before Christine continued. “Anyway, we need Jenna ASAP. We went to Mike’s house to try to get Jeremy, but Mike drove away and Jenny got in the way of the car and we couldn’t just run her over, plus we lost sight of Mike’s-”

“I’ll get Jenna, got it,” Michael interrupted, knowing she’d go on forever if he let her. With a quick nod to Christine and Chrissy (which was a bit disorienting to look at, honestly), he dashed out of the bathroom, bumping into Rich as he left. “Hey, sorry Rich, but where’s Jenna?”

Rich shrugged, holding an ice pack on the space where his neck and shoulder met. “She’s downstairs with Jacob, why?”

“We’re gonna need to do another switch in a minute.” Michael nodded sympathetically along with Rich’s groan as he put down the hand towel full of ice packs onto Jeremy’s bed. “Check to see who else can help besides you and I. Destiny might be able to, but if Chlo won’t let her leave, ask Jeremiah.”

“Got it.” With that, the two both left to grab who they needed. Michael practically leaped down the stairs, startling the two talking together on the couch. Jacob and Jenna both looked over with semi-wide eyes, Jacob’s hands stopping as they moved as their conversation was interrupted.

“Sorry Jacob,” Michael started, really feeling bad for the fact he was going to be alone down here, “but I need Jenna to switch.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s cool,” Jacob reassured, waving his hand (though his tone of voice betrayed him) as Jenna hesitantly got up. “Maybe once Chlo’s better, she’ll come down and talk with me.”

Jenna and Michael tried to keep the feeling of pity off of their faces as Jenna quickly gave Jacob a parting hug before rushing upstairs with Michael. “Were they able to find Jeremy?”

“No clue, but I don’t think so. I’m sure they’ll tell you more when you switch over.” As they hurried down the hall, Michael quickly stopped Jenna and, after a moment of hesitating, rested a hand on her shoulder. “Please make sure he’s OK once you get him, yeah?”

“Of course, Michael,” Jenna promised, patting the top of his hand before they went into Jeremy’s room. Rich was already back, Jeremiah holding a bottle of Mountain Dew Red as he stood by his side and the door open with Chrissy waiting. Yelling could be heard, presumably from the other side of the mirror, from Jenny screaming and arguing with whoever. “You be careful, you know I can throw a mean kick.”

“Yeah, I will,” Michael reassured, patting her on the shoulder as he walked into the bathroom with Rich and Jeremiah behind him. Chrissy carefully took a few steps back as Jenna turned to face herself in the mirror. From the corner of his eye, Michael could see Jake and Brooke somehow holding Jenny as Chloe held onto her wrist, putting her hand against the mirror.

After taking a deep breath, Jenna reached her hand over, ignoring the screams from the other side of the mirror as she pressed it against the cold glass. Just like all of the previous times, there seemed to be some sort of light that encompassed the room, blinding everyone for a few moments before chaos erupted.

While Chlo and Chrissy had tried to make a break for it past everyone, as if they had some chance of making it out, Jenny seemed to have the idea to let this be her last stand. She was the first to make a move, though was avoiding Chrissy and Jeremiah for the most part (which makes sense, because they’re her friends). Rich and Michael however? Oh, they were free game.

Rich dove forward with Michael, trying to grab her and keep her restrained. Without caring if they were alright or not (no way she cared, especially if her SQUIP had anything to say about it), she ducked under the way of Rich’s dive, letting him fly inches above her and into the tub and the wall behind it. The sound that echoed from the impact seemed to even make her shudder as Jenny juked out of the way of Michael’s own grab before kicking the backs of his ankles. Pain shot through his legs as he stumbled into the cold tile, though he was able to see Chrissy and Jeremiah block the way as they called out for everyone else to come that could.

He could see the hesitance in her face as the cries from Destiny and Chlo could be heard, all as he tried his best to block out the pain and stand up himself. Michael could faintly hear the groans from Rich in the bathtub, but it was no longer his focus as he felt a strong hand grab onto the back of his hoodie, practically choking him as it dragged him to his feet.

Before he could try moving, he felt an arm wrap around his neck as he was suddenly facing Jeremiah and Chrissy, and their eyes were wide with what seemed to be a mix of surprise, fear, and horror. The arm of Jenny that wrapped around his neck tightened in a way he knew wasn’t good since he felt himself become light-headed for a second, though he regained his breathing shortly after when the grip relaxed, causing him to cough. “I do not wish to be shut off,” Jenny ‘said,’ though it was clear she was just being used to talk though. “So, instead of you forcing my host to drink that, you’re going to let me stay while I have my reassurance here-” The hand not around Michael’s throat patted his head in a way a parent would as they finished scolding their foolish child. “-until the next time you’re contacted through the mirror. You’re going to let me switch first, otherwise I can easily turn this chokehold into a lethal one in seconds. Neither of you two want that, now do you?”

Even if the SQUIP sounded confident as it held him, Michael had a feeling it was bluffing. While he knew Jenna was strong, there was no way Jenny could have the strength to suddenly kill Michael in a chokehold, even with the sudden burst her SQUIP could suddenly give her… right? It seemed like neither Chrissy nor Jeremiah wanted to test that as they looked between Michael and Jenny, mouths wide like they were the ones gasping for air right now.

Jeremiah’s gaze shifted to Chrissy then, and as the girl was grasping for something to say, the Mountain Dew Red in his hands was give to her. While she looked perplexed and searched for some reason to why he did this, the boy turned to look Jenny in the face. Michael was only left to hope that he knew what he was doing as he held his hands out, showing he had no soda, as he took a confident step forward. “How can we even know that you aren’t bluffing? I mean, you have to follow the rules, right?”

Michael’s face contorted to express his confusion, which was mirrored by Jenny’s SQUIP as she uttered, “Uh… Are you…” As the realization seemed to come to her SQUIP, Jenny let out a deep laugh, the muscles around his neck relaxing for a moment until she stopped, to which they purposefully tightened and had him gasp for a moment. “I am not a robot, Jeremiah, you know this. I do not follow those three rules, as I will do whatever it takes to accomplish the goals of my host, even if those ways are considered ‘unethical’ and ‘immoral’ to humans.” With each emphasized word, the arm around Michael’s neck tightened, as if that would help prove it’s point.

Even as he was light-headed, Michael gave Jeremiah a pleading look. Did he trust him? Yes, of course he did, but he knew that his friend, whether from another reality or not, wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Despite the panic running through him, Jeremiah just gave him a reassuring look, soft like he had earlier when he had been helping him with his panic attack.

It could’ve easily been the stupidest mistake in his life, but Michael could never doubt that look. Instead of letting himself panic, Michael did his damndest to trust in Jeremiah and try to stay calm, even if he could possibly be a minute away from possible doom.

With that approval, Jeremiah’s confidence seemed to be boosted (Michael had only seen his Jeremy be this confident two times in his life: when he first told Michael on his ninth birthday that they’d be best friends forever after giving him his homemade Magic: the Gathering card, and the first time he told Michael he loved him and wanted to spend the rest of his life with him when the summer started). “Oh yeah? I guess that’s true, since even robots are useful. Yeah, I’d say that even Mike’s Roomba, Rudy, is more useful that you’ll _ever_ be.”

Time seemed to slow down then, and Michael was only able to process everything that happened right before he passed out.

The first thing he noticed was that Rich, Jeremiah, and Chrissy seemed to catch Jenny’s SQUIP off-guard. Rich had slowly been moving over, grabbing a hold of the stainless steel plunger (Jeremy was a clean freak and needed _everything_ to be cleanly andheld to the highest standards) before whacking Jenny with it in the back of the head, making her let go of Michael.

The second thing was that, right before Rich knocked her out, the SQUIP _was_ able to improve Jenny’s strength to the point where, after being partially choked a few times already and exhausted, she could easily choke him out to the point of unconsciousness. If she held him a bit longer, with the SQUIP’s guidance and sudden enhancement to her strength, there was a possibility that she could easily have killed him. Michael wasn’t quite sure on that last point, but he didn’t want to test that out.

The third thing was that Chrissy and Rich seemed to already agree with Jeremiah that he was the one to catch Michael and that, after he was SQUIPed for however long, that Jeremiah was blessed with the strength to actually _catch_ Michael and _carry him out of the bathroom?_ He couldn’t really process what Jeremiah was saying as he carried him out, but he knew it was tearful as he felt a tear fall onto his cheek as he finally slipped into unconsciousness.

\--

Parked at the edge of the Seven-Eleven parking lot, Mike kept playing with his fingers as he stared at the knitted cover on his steering wheel, trying to ignore all of the voices in his head. After not experiencing them for months on end, having them suddenly flare up was so overwhelming. Why wasn’t his SQUIP helping him? Why was it letting this happen when it was supposed to be helping him? Why was everything so damn overwhelming again, and so suddenl-

**_[I told you, Michael, that everything would be fixed soon if you did what I said. You were unable to sync up with this other Jeremy’s SQUIP like I asked you to do. I only asked you to do one simple thing.]_** Mike couldn’t help but tense at the disappointment in his SQUIP’s tone as he glanced over to the form, which held the angry gaze of sci-fi Ryan Met, though it seemed to be… different. If he wasn’t so overwhelmed, he’d be able to figure out how, but all he could tell now was that his SQUIP wasn’t as nice and comforting as it had been that morning.

“I’m sorry, I was trying. I don’t think either of us expected for him to literally bound out of the house while _you_ weren’t able to sync-” Before his thought could finish, the tension that had been slowly building in his chest since that morning, one his SQUIP assured that he should brush off, was almost too much for him to handle. Grasping at his chest, bunching the fabric of his hoodie, he couldn’t help but lean forward and rest his head against the top of his steering wheel as he tried to will the feeling away with deep breaths, a habit he realized he only did when he was on the verge of a panic attack.

Regardless of how hard he tried, he felt time slip away from him as the feeling refused to go away. It sat firmly in his chest, refusing to go away as he felt tears forming at the edge of his vision. At this point, he just wanted the attack so it would all be over with, even if he was scared to feel it. He could barely keep his thoughts steady when the soft lull of his SQUIP resurfaced, as if waiting for him to be in such a vulnerable state. **_[This whole thing is upsetting you, and it has been hard for me to be able to help you with this… anomaly in the system.]_**

Mike willed his eyes to glance to the side where his SQUIP sat, right where Jeremiah always sat. He felt himself get a bit choked up at that, and he wanted to cry so badly, but he couldn’t. Why couldn’t he just cry it all out and feel better, damnit?!

**_[I am trying my best to keep you functioning. If I let you do this, you would just break down and be unable to do anything, Michael. I am trying to help keep you going so you can stop this. Even Jenna is gone now, unfortunately, so this all has to fall onto you.]_ **

“Why me?” he practically choked out, his free hand gripping onto the soft texture of the steering wheel cover, trying to calm himself down enough to focus his vision on his SQUIP. His eyes followed the holographic hand of his SQUIP as it went to rest on his shoulder, and he swore he felt relief fill himself for the brief moments it would have made contact with his body if it were real.

**_[Because you’re the only one that can help them, Michael. To help the ones you love, you have to save those who do not understand what they’re doing wrong. They don’t have anyone left to guide them, but I know you can do it, even if it hurts and seems wrong.]_** Surely it sensed Mike’s hesitance, and he swore his SQUIP turned his head and held his face in it’s hands (he was too distressed and panicked to realize his body was being manipulated, that he was being manipulated), giving him a look mixed with concern and hope. **_[If anyone can do this, you can. You just have to start by helping this Jeremy by getting rid of his defective SQUIP with the Red.]_**

Mike just nodded, almost hiccuping until his SQUIP softly hushed him. ** _[Remember: Do not be fooled by anything he says, OK? He will do whatever his SQUIP says to help it stay active, thinking we are the enemy when we aren’t. And whatever you do, do_ not _drink this soda yourself, no matter what this Jeremy tries, alright?]_** After Mike nodded once more, he felt like he was able to breathe again as his SQUIP let go of his wet cheeks. **_[Alright, good. I have been able to track where he is, so just relax and I’ll lead you there. You have a big talk ahead of you, so just try to relax.]_**

“Alright…” As Mike shut his eyes to try to catch his breath and calm down with his SQUIP whispering comfort and directions into his mind, he was barely able to feel his body move on it’s own accord as his SQUIP drove him down to where Jeremy and his own SQUIP were finishing off their plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who here hates Mike's SQUIP? Oh, everyone? Good.
> 
> Please leave your comments below, I adore talking to you all (it helps motivate me to finish chapters quicker too)! <333


	10. Final Boss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ve been looking all over for you, Jeremy,” Mike said with what most would think would be relief in his voice. After knowing Michael since kindergarten, however, he knew that it was fake. No SQUIP could fool him that easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are at the second to last chapter, boys. (Technically, the rest could be considered the Epilogue, but I ain't titling it like that.) Buckle the fuckle up and get ready for the feels that are happening this chapter, as well as the confrontation. 
> 
> This feels so weird that it's so close to ending, but this is going to be the first fanfiction that I've ever completed, and I just want to thank everyone who has commented and kudos'd and shown support. Honestly, it means the world, and don't be /too/ mad at the feels you'll get from this chapter. (I've gauged how y'all will feel based off of Mikaela, my beta, and it's gonna be... a doozy...)

Jeremy had been out in the clearing with his SQUIP for what felt like hours, though it was only half an hour at most. He thought they’d have more time to work on this plan, but with the SQUIP’s ability to amplify his hearing to keep a lookout, he could hear Mike’s P.T. Cruiser coming from a mile away (literally). 

Whether he was ready or not (though his SQUIP kept heavily implying that he wasn’t), Jeremy had the best plan that he could come up with in such a short span of time. **_[Excuse me, what did I say earlier about plagiarism?_ My _plan-]_**

_Yeah, I get it, it’s_ your _plan._ Jeremy let out a heavy sigh as he gave a dirty look to the glitching hologram of Keanu Reeves by his side as he glanced out into the distance, seeing the hint of headlights glaring his way. They quickly shut off, and it felt like his voice shut off along with it as he stood up from where he sat on the ground. 

The plan was quite complicated, but hopefully he’d be able to pull it off with his SQUIP’s help. Somehow, he was going to immobilize or distract Mike long enough to get his keys, unlock the trunk, and then unlock the lockbox in the trunk (he learned from his SQUIP that the code was the date Mike and Jeremiah got together) to get the Red. Once he got that all done with, he could worry about how to get Mike to d-

… He already held the bottle as he walked into the clearing with a white-knuckled grip. Jeremy heard a scoff in his head at this. **_[Oh, so I come up with this elaborate plan and it’s all for naught now,_ huh? _]_**

_...Uh, you told me not even a minute ago that the plan had a very low chance of success-_

**_[Shut the hell up, Jeremiah.]_ **

Jeremy did his best not to physically roll his eyes, though the oncoming wave of tension as Mike stood a good few feet or more across from him was enough to stop it. His throat felt tight as he looked Mike in the eyes, taking in his disheveled appearance. His hair was wild, as if he had been running his hands through it non-stop, and his eyes held a panic Jeremy knew too well from when he’d calm Michael down from extreme panic attacks. It took all of his willpower to not stride the few feet to embrace Mike and help calm him, though the sudden appearance of the same circuitry he’d seen when he first arrived helped with that.

“I’ve been looking all over for you, Jeremy,” Mike said with what most would think would be relief in his voice. After knowing Michael since kindergarten, however, he knew that it was fake. No SQUIP could fool him that easily. **_[Well, at least not one that still is following the bugged protocol like I was prior to my glitched shutdown, geez.]_**

Ignoring his own SQUIP, Jeremy swallowed the lump in his throat and gave his best attempt at a smile that he could muster (he knew it was shaky at best). “Yeah, I sorta needed time away to sort things out with my SQUIP coming back, y’know?”

Mike just nodded to that, his free hand fidgeting and playing with it’s own fingers as he forced a smile. “I can’t even imagine. You were glowing blue with circuitry before and everything, so I knew your SQUIP was controlling you.” He seemed to fidget in his spot for a moment before adding, “There’s something up with your SQUIP because we can’t sync, y’know? It’s glitched or something, so if you’ll let me, we can properly deactivate this and get this all sorted out.” 

Carefully watching, Jeremy took a step back as Mike took a step forward. “Yeah, I know it is, but it’s glitch helped it figure out some bugs, some that I notice your SQUIP still has.” Confusion overtook Mike’s expression before it quickly morphed into one of worry.

“No, your glitched-out SQUIP is the problem here.” Another step was taken by Mike, and another was taken by Jeremy. “It’s processing system is all messed up, so it’s feeding you all this wrong information and stuff. I’m sorry for reactivating it, and I know it won’t be pleasant, but we gotta deactivate it so we can work through this.” A few steps forward, and a few steps back. “I just wanna help, Jere.” A few more steps towards Jeremy, and a few more away fr-

His back was up against a tree, cornered for a moment. _Hey, why the hell didn’t you warn me?!_

**_[I am still glitching, Jeremy.]_** Jeremy conveyed the feeling of an eye roll to his SQUIP as he quickly side-stepped, turning around and now being lead by his SQUIP to keep him from being backed up again. **_[While I can provide some insight in this form, I can only keep this up for so long. If you want the best results while Mike is being controlled by his SQUIP, you must allow me to take control of your body as well. Otherwise, you may misstep and be cornered, unable to escape. Also, sidestep left three steps.]_**

_I really don’t want to do that._ Despite thinking this, he followed his SQUIP’s orders. “And I just wanna help you, Michael. Do you even wonder _why_ I deactivated my SQUIP in the first place? Didn’t it ever bother you that every one of my friends didn’t have their SQUIPs active, and why I was so desperate to keep you from reactivating it in the first place?”

As the split-second hesitance was evident in Mike’s expression, Jeremy’s SQUIP piped up. **_[You can keep talking, but you are not good at multitasking unless it is on-stage. Please, I am asking for your consent. Also, watch out for-]_** It seemed that the world wanted to help the SQUIP prove it’s point as Jeremy stumbled over a root before somehow catching himself, continuing to walk backwards. **_[See.]_** It took every fiber of his being to not mentally strangle his SQUIP as he looked back to Mike.

The hesitance vanished as soon as Jeremy was able to focus again on Mike’s face after his tumble. Instead of that hesitance, it was replaced with a shaky determination, one Jeremy had seen on Michael when he was hyping himself up for a presentation to try to squash his rampant social anxiety. “There’s no point thinking about that since I’m going to help you deactivate it again.”

**_[He’s cornering you to another root above ground, sidestep left two steps.]_** Jeremy quickly followed the instructions, glancing to his right to see that he would have definitely tripped over the large root. **_[Please, let me do the walking while you do the talking, Jeremy. It is the least I can do to help.]_**

_Alright, fine, but as soon as we stop Mike’s SQUIP, you’re stopping._

**_[Of course.]_** Jeremy felt himself lose control of his limbs, although he didn’t stop moving. He focused his gaze completely on Mike now, seeing some of the color drain from his face. It let the red marks on his skin become more prominent and intimidating, and he would have shuddered at the sight if his SQUIP wasn’t controlling his body.

“The bugs it had before are fixed now, Michael. _Your_ SQUIP’s bugs aren’t fixed yet,” Jeremy insisted, bringing the conversation back to his side as he saw himself start to close the distance, slowly but surely as the SQUIP tried to corner Mike instead and turn the tides. “I’ve gone through faulty SQUIPs before-” **_[Rude.]_** “-and I can see how badly it’s affecting you. Hell, you went from calm and composed this morning to the continual verge of a panic attack right now. The only reason it hasn’t happened is probably because of your SQUIP, right?”

“It’s keeping me from having it,” Mike justified, his confident steps seemingly faltering as his voice wavered. The red glow seemed to fade for a moment before it came back, the confidence resuming in his steps. 

“No, it’s just telling you that. It’s manipulating you.” The idea clearly shocked Mike, as evident by the whiplash his expression showed. His steps halted, the red blinking for a few moments. Taking the opportunity, his body moved forward on it’s own accord, closing the distance between the two. Mike’s red circuitry quickly resumed it’s constant glow, and his feet retreated rather quickly as he swore he heard the other hyperventilate for a few moments.

“Wh- No! It’s helping me-”

“Michael, my SQUIP used to shock me and told me it was to correct my slouching, ticks, and fidgeting.” He saw the distance start to close as he began to corner Mike now, even if the action churned his stomach. From his peripheral vision, he saw his hands move to pull back at his shirt, pulling the fabric and eventually the edge of his binder to show the stemming scars from his electroshock therapy. “It made me think it was OK to be shocked, that it was all for the sake of achieving my goals. You know how fucked up that is, and _it’s doing that to you, but with your anxiety_!” he nearly shouted, everything clicking into place on how fucked up Mike’s SQUIP was as he shouted.

The glow didn’t fade, but Mike’s body stopped despite that. His face shifted to horror as it all seemed to click into place for him too (after all, Michael was one of the smartest people he knew, and Mike had to be no exception, even if he was in such a fucked up situation). Before he could get a word out, however, as he- no, his SQUIP controlling his body lunged at Jeremy.

For once, Jeremy was glad he did as his SQUIP instructed, as he watched his own body intercept this. The two SQUIPs controlling the teens tousled in the clearing for what seemed like an eternity, though was less than a minute. By the end of all the tussling, Jeremy’s body was almost pinning Mike down, the bottle of Red somehow in his right hand.

Somehow, he was able to keep Mike pinned down, despite the intense struggle his body was giving. Jeremy gave a quick thanks to his SQUIP, though it gave no response (either because of how hard it was working or how tense the situation was). Despite that, his fingers were deftly unscrewing the bottle as he held it, all as he looked down at Mike. He saw tears beginning to form in his eyes, and he wasn’t sure if it was some last-ditch effort from his SQUIP to tug at his heart-strings before getting one-up on him or if Mike was actually able to break past the tear-duct control of his SQUIP to truly cry right now.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but all Mike could get out before a sob overtook him was, “Jeremy, _please…_ ”

Jeremy felt his own tears form then, feeling them slide down his cheeks at how absolutely broken Mike was. As he felt his hand move, he quickly thought to his SQUIP. _Hold on a second, let me say something before we make him drink it._ His hand halted after a moment, hovering with the opened Red. ... _Thank you, SQUIP._

Looking down at Mike, taking his almost-broken form in, he took a deep breath before speaking in the softest, most reassuring tone he could muster. “I’m not your Jeremy and you aren’t my Michael, but I still love you.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Please drink this and I promise everything'll be OK, even if it isn’t easy like the SQUIP makes it out to be.” Jeremy didn’t care how his voice wavered and almost broke as he spoke, he just needed Mike to desperately understand.

After a few moments, he watched as Mike seemed to hold back his sobs before uttering, “Yes.” As soon as he did, though, his lips seemed to be shut against his will, and his body struggled even further, almost succeeding in kicking Jeremy off. 

Before that could happen, though, Jeremy watched as his body swiftly moved, forcing the bottle to Mike’s lips, the other hand moving to force Mike’s jaw open. 

Everything seemed to move in a hazy blur, and Jeremy could barely process as everything happened in flashes for him.

The first flash was seeing the Red dribbling from Mike’s mouth, though not all of it as he surely drank some of it.

The second flash was him lying on his back, the air knocked out of his lungs and his ribs dully aching; he was staring up at the stars shining through the canopy of leaves above. _Mike or his SQUIP kicked me off._

The third flash, the worst of them all, was him propped up on his elbows as he saw what he assume Michael saw during the play last year: the SQUIP being deactivated as it’s host screamed and spasmed.

The fourth flash was Jeremy comforting Mike as he held him close once the spasms died down, as he was crying and muttering out incoherencies (that one hurt him the most). 

The fifth flash was his SQUIP asking for control, just one more time, so he could safely drive him and Mike back to Jeremiah’s house. He was the most aware of everything that was happening during this, and Jeremy had a feeling his SQUIP did this on purpose so he could fully give consent. _It’s… learning from its mistakes?_ Somehow, he managed to nod and mutter out a soft, “Yes,” as he held Mike just a little closer, resting his own forehead against Mikes. 

The drive back was a blur, though Jeremy was able to pick out that everything in Mike’s car was near identical to Michael’s, interior and exterior, except for a Mountain Dew bumper sticker once his SQUIP carefully helped him settle Mike into the backseat. After a few attempts with his stubby nails, Jeremy was glad to see that they were now completely identical. 

The final flash was him parking in Jeremiah’s driveway, his friends running off of the porch (he seemed to have ruined some impromptu meeting) after he exited the car and somehow held Mike in his arms.

\--

Jeremiah sat at the foot of Jeremy’s bed, tugging and messing with the hem of his shirt. He heard small bits and pieces of others, whether it be Chlo and Destiny in the bathroom, trying to talk softly, or Jenny and the others downstairs as she continued to apologize for earlier. While he wanted to try to distract himself from his racing thoughts, now that his voice was the only one there (which was still startling after having it for so long), he couldn’t drag himself out of his head when his thoughts were revolving around the one lying in the bed he sat on.

_When is he going to wake up? He has to be OK… right? I know Jenna sort of knocked him out, but he should be awake by now, right?_ Too nervous to just sit, he had to check for the fifth time in the past three minutes. Leaning over, he gently lifted the sleeve of Michael’s hoodie (he had left Michael’s arm out from under the sheets after the third time he did this) to check his pulse. Relief washed over him for now as he felt the steady pulse there, though Jeremiah’s fingers lingered this time around as his gaze shifted from Michael’s wrist to his fa- 

“What’re ‘ya starin’ at, huh? See somethin’ you like?” Michael muttered out, his voice hoarse as Jeremiah saw him slowly open his eyes. The nerves that had been restless in Jeremiah, despite his best outlets to let them out, finally vanished at the sight of Michael waking up. He tried not to choke up, though failed and decided to just hug the boy instead of talk, clinging tightly to him as he was a blubbering mess of relief.

“I was so worried something ha-happened to you, even though I _knew_ y-you were OK. I’m so gl-glad to actually see you awake th-though!” Jeremiah managed to get out through the tears falling down his cheeks before devolving into soft sobs. He felt Michael slowly move after a moment underneath him, Michael’s arms wrapping around his own frame before one hand ran up and down his back, the other tight around his waist. 

“Hey, ‘m a tough cookie,” Jeremiah heard Michael mutter out, and he couldn’t help but nod in agreement to the other’s statement before burying his face into the fabric of his shoulder. “I’ve survived the SQUIP once b’fore, I can do it again.”

“Y-yeah,” Jeremiah softly agreed, barely audible as most of what he said was muffled by the red hoodie Michael was wearing, “I sh-shouldn’t of worried, I guess…”

The lankier teen felt one of the hands, the one that had been running along his back, move to run through his curly locks, causing him to look up at Michael. He was able to clearly see the twinkle in his eyes, one that was unique to him (and his own Michael… well, he realized now that he hadn’t really seen this kinda twinkle since the SQUIP stuff started) and currently lighting up the room without his horn-rimmed glasses on to block it. “That’s somethin’ you always do though, whether you’re my Jeremy or not. You worry because you care, ‘n I love that about you.” 

Jeremiah couldn’t hold back his smile, despite the last few tears falling down his cheeks. “Yeah, I guess you’re right…”

“‘Course I am, y’dork,” Michael practically whispered before resting his forehead against Jeremiah’s. “After all, ‘m always right…”

“Yeah, I guess you are.” Jeremiah smiled as he felt Michael’s hands slowly still before gently moving the other’s arm around his waist before moving his own fingers through his friend’s darker locks. “Thank you, Mikey, for everything…”

He didn’t get a response, as he noticed that Michael fell back asleep, which was understandable after what happened earlier along with all of the stress and overall exhaustion he had to be feeling. There was no way he was going to ruin this relaxing moment for him, so Jeremiah just continued to lie there with his friend, running his fingers through his hair how he knew he liked.

It was so tempting to fall asleep with Michael, and Jeremiah almost did. His eyes were slowly shutting, his fingers starting to still, but he was jolted out by a gentle whisper and touch to his shoulder. Almost jumping, Jeremiah made sure to not move too much, as to not wake Michael, before turning and seeing Chlo looking at the two with something he couldn’t read.

“Brooke told me to get you, she didn’t want to call and bug you or wake Michael. I’m going to get the others, but the SQUIP’s gone now. We’re going home.” 

Jeremiah’s eyes widened at that, nodding before looking down at Michael’s sleeping figure with a soft, sad smile. “Alright, I’ll go in in a sec, Chlo.” He saw her nod in his peripheral vision before she exited the bedroom, presumably going downstairs to let everyone else know and help Jacob get upstairs. Honestly, he was quite thankful for the last few moments alone with Michael.

Looking down at the sleeping figure after carefully shimmying out of said figure’s hold, Jeremiah couldn’t help but tear up before leaning down and pressing a chaste kiss to Michael’s forehead. “Really, thank you for everything, Mikey. I’m going to miss you,” he muttered out, his throat tightening up as he tried to keep himself from tearing up further. 

After getting up and out of bed, Jeremiah quickly checked his pocket. _Yup, it’s still there._ With that reaffirmation, he walked into the bathroom and met with Destiny, smiling wearily at her.

“How is he?”

“Well, he woke up for a minute, but he’s still exhausted. I said my goodbyes to him, even if he was asleep.” 

Jeremiah couldn’t read the look Destiny had either, though it was similar to the one Chlo had given him before. “I’m sure he’ll know what you said somehow.” He could only nod in agreement before glancing over into the mirror, taking in a deep breath as the image started to shift like it had twenty-four hours ago, revealing the disheveled appearance of Jeremy Heere.

“You took good care of Michael, right?”

Jeremiah nodded to his alternate self, giving an apologetic smile. “Yeah… Sorry about all of this.” _God, this is_ so _weird to be talking and… apologizing to myself._ As he finished his thought, he watched as his other self shook his head with a reassuring smile. _God, do I really look like that? Weird…_

“It’s OK, I get it. Honestly, if I had been in your position, I probably would’ve done the same thing. Y’know, same person and all.” _God, even if I mean well, I’m_ so _awkward, even with myself._

“Yeah, I get it. You… you helped _my_ Michael, right?” The nod he got from his other helped ease any more worries as he muttered out a soft, “Thank god.”

“He’s just sleeping, and he’ll probably wake up in the morning.”

“Yeah, same with your Michael. The SQUIP, uh… tried to take a last stand and he got really worn out,” Jeremiah nearly winced, glancing guiltily away as he spoke before changing a look back.

Jeremy just looked so exhausted, though still looked so relieved, probably because of the news that Michael was OK, despite all that has happened. “Alright, thanks. I think we’d both like to get back home though, right?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Jeremiah said with a nod, reaching his hand out and resting it against the mirror. “Hey, at least this could make a hell of a book, huh?”

“Yeah, maybe, but who’d read it?” 

“ _Someone_ would.” 

With a weak laugh and a breathy, “True,” from Jeremy, Jeremiah watched as he placed his hand against his own before a white light engulfed the room and his senses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it all ends where it begins. 
> 
> Please don't be mad at me, lol. Though please talk to me in the comments, I want to know how you all feel after the climax! (The next chapter will be the nice conclusion, though I'd like to hear from you all before it's all wrapped up, as it'll be very emotional, especially for me ahahah.)


	11. He is the Fairest One of All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything that has a start must also have an end. Mike and Jeremiah's story is wrapped up, and we conclude with who we began with: Jeremy and Michael as they celebrate their thirteenth Friendaversary. (EPILOGUE)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, this is... huge for me. I've never finished a fanfiction before (excluding one-shots), so this fic means a lot to me. First, because I've met my good friend and beta because of this, AwkwardPersonTM, aka Mikaela. If it wasn't for this fic, we wouldn't have met and wouldn't be doing all the things we're doing, including going to see BMC on Broadway on April 7th. 
> 
> You all have been so kind and supportive as well, and I could just sit here and gush forever, but I will continue to do that in the end notes of this sort wrap-up chapter. Also, if you see something underlines in the fic, click on it: it opens an image link! I won't ruin the surprise, but yeah, I'll talk to you again once you've finished this chapter! <3
> 
> (Also, the title, if you can't tell, is playing off the original quote, not the butchered one (well, it's actually magic mirror on the wall, but I remembered that /after/ posting the title, plus I felt Mirror, Mirror worked better): Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?)

The first thing Mike noticed when he started to come to was the pressure in his hand, the calming one he had grown to love when he’d wake up after a nap or when he was being calmed down from an attack of any kind. He felt the grounding pressure of a thumb- His thumb!- rubbing into the palm of his hand in figure eights. The thoughts in his head (there was a distinct lack of Ryan Met’s voice with a techno reverb, and holy _shit was that amazing!_ ) began to quiet as he cracked his eyes open, seeing the semi-blurry figure of Jeremiah, _his Jeremy._

“Jere?” was all he managed to get out, his voice cracking in a way it hadn’t since he first started puberty in middle school. Despite how much he internally cringed at it, the look that bloomed on Jeremiah’s face made it worth it.

“Holy shit, M-Michael!” Woah, he hadn’t heard that lovely stutter in a while. Honestly, he enjoyed it as he was brought into a gentle hug, which was great since it just hit Mike that his body was aching all over and that he had the worst headache he’d ever felt (maybe it was a migraine?). “You’re finally awake, oh my god.”

“Finally, I’ve been talking to tall-ass for, what, ten minutes, and he’s brought you up almost a dozen times,” came a voice from what Mike realized was Jeremiah’s phone that was on the side table. At hearing the voice, though, Mike’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Wait, Rich?!” Even with the sudden lisp, there was no way he couldn’t recognize his voice.

“Hell yeah, I’m talking through Jenna’s phone. Everyone came to visit me after the happy hivemind got shut down, and since I’m finally able to _think_ , I’ve been catching up! Since Jeremy’s not alone anymore, though, I’m gonna hang up so Jenna’s phone battery doesn’t die, also so Jeremy can explain to you what the hell happened.”

“Wait, w-”

“Also, you two better visit me in between your smooching sessions! Buh-bye, nerd-and-geek solidarity!” Before Mike could say something in response, he heard the end-call tone play and end.

Recovering from his proverbial whiplash, Mike just blinked a few times, especially once he felt something rest against his face and his vision began to clear. “T-thanks Jere-”

He felt a finger rest against his lips, and Mike couldn’t help but smile as he looked up at Jeremiah, who was looking down at him like he was the most precious thing (and honestly, it was the other way around, but his voice was too hoarse to voice that). “You don’t need to say anything right now, Micah. You’re recovering from everything, just rest your throat, yeah?” Only to satisfy Jeremiah, he nodded, and he was glad he did once he saw the grin on Jeremiah’s face widen. “Good.”

Mike let himself lie in bed, watching Jeremiah as he shifted so he could sit beside him in the bed. He felt those hands he loved to hold and kiss gently cradle his head, shifting him ever so slightly so his head rested in Jeremiah’s lap, and he voiced no complaints as he felt his fingers run through his hair, helping to ease the pain in his head somewhat.

Once the air around them settled to a calmer atmosphere, Jeremiah spoke up. He explained everything that happened, from his side of the story as well as what he gathered from everyone else, from his friends and Jeremy’s friends, and finally, he finished with Jeremy’s side of the story. “-And you… I’m so sorry, Micah,” Jeremiah finished, his voice so soft and gentle, like it could shatter, like _he_ could.

Frowning as he looked up at the face he adored and missed, Mike raised his hands up, even if his muscles ached and tensed from the effort, to cup Jeremiah’s cheeks. He felt the muscles in the other’s face shift as he softly gasped, those blue eyes he loved looking back down at him. His fingers ran against his near-perfect skin, starting to trace over what seemed to be forming acne, and he couldn’t help but laugh at all of this.

Jeremiah seemed as confused as he was, furrowing his brows as he asked Mike, “Uh, Micah, why are you laughing?”

“I-I honestly don’t know,” Mike practically croaked out, his voice cracking at the start, before Jeremiah leaned down and rested his forehead against Mike’s. His boyfriend joined in, the two laughing for a few minutes together, seemingly not caring about anything else in the world but each other.

“I’m so glad you’re O-OK,” Jeremiah whispered to him after they calmed down, a peaceful and comfortable silence falling over the two, “And I’m glad we-we’re out of that shiny, happy hivem-mind.”

Mike smiled fondly up at the other, humming in response. “Yeah, the only good thing that came out of it was being with you.”

“Hey, I thought I told you not to talk, you dumbass.”

“I’m a rebe-” Before he could finish, Mike coughed, causing Jeremiah to pull back with a look of faux disgust before he rolled his eyes and grabbed a water bottle from the bedside table.

“Mm, yeah, _sure_.” A half-hearted look of false anger was shot towards Jeremiah, though it only lasted for a few seconds. Mike happily took the water bottle, chugging over half of it down in his first go once he sat up. He screwed the cap back on as he lied back down, resting his head back into his boyfriend’s comfy lap before he saw said boyfriend reach over to put the water bottle back and… grab something else? “Yeah, getting together with you _was_ the best thing to come from that, but there was something else, I guess.”

Mike’s raised brow was his way to challenge Jeremiah, to push him to speak since he wasn’t allowed to talk himself. “I got to realize there are alternate universes, and I became like some sci-fi universe hopper! How cool is that?!”

At that, Mike couldn’t help but smile at the giddy grin, full of wonder and pure, unadulterated joy on the other’s freckled face. He was about to try to speak up, to make some quip that would get him scolded at for talking again, but he felt something drop against his face instead. “Oh, and I was able to get you this from hopping. Happy early thirteenth Friendaversary, Michael.”

Grabbing the thing on his face, the older of the two pulled it back, only to stare in awe and almost drop his jaw at [his dream patch that he’d been designing](https://ibb.co/6nq5QVS). “Y… _How?_ ”

“I met this great guy in the other universe that got it himself, but thought you’d like it more. Plus, it’ll be like a badge of honor that we got through this shit,” Jeremiah said, voice soft and soothing with his tone obvious that he was smiling as he talked. “It’s your dream patch, right?”

“God, I don’t care how much you yell at me for talking, but I fucking love you.”

“Love you too, Micha, but please just shut the hell up and kiss me.” And that he did, dropping the patch to cup the other’s cheeks and pull him down for however long they could stand to not break apart from one another.

\--

Two weeks had passed since Michael got Jeremy back, and it was the day of their anniversary, the day that they met and became best friends... Well, the morning of.

The two had decided that, after the shitstorm of their sci-fi adventure and to celebrate the fact that Jeremy’s SQUIP was now permanently shut down (he just needed to drink some Mountain Dew Red himself- who knew?), all they wanted was to spend their Friendaversary alone together. Everyone else was informed about this, and knew to let the two be.

In order to spend the entire day together, Michael slept over that night and was going to sleep over again, something Mr. Heere was quite eager to know. To prep for the fact that he was leaving the two boys alone, he spent the day before with the two after dinner, playing board games and talking. It was simple, but that simple intimacy was something Michael openly loved, and he knew it was something Jeremy secretly loved.

Speaking of Jeremy, Michael opened his eyes at _who knows when_ to see said light of his life staring at him, seemingly admiring him. The adoration in Jeremy’s eyes almost had him all choked up, but he was able to clear his throat (metaphorically, of course) before speaking up in a tired tone. “Hey, what’re you staring at, good lookin’?”

Those hands he adored cupped his cheeks, almost squishing what baby fat he had left in his cheeks as he spoke, as if it would be a sin for anyone else to hear what he said. “My whole world.”

_Well shit._ He could practically feel his face heat up at that, and Jeremy’s adorable laughter didn’t help to calm the heat down. “Geez, you sap,” Michael managed to get out before reaching out and wrapping his arms around Jeremy’s waist, pulling the boy until they were pressed together, chest-to-chest (only because Jeremy was alright with this, he didn’t want to flare up anything for his wonderful boyfriend), before burying his face into the crook of the other’s neck.

“You love me,” Jeremy practically sung out as Michael felt him wrap an arm around his shoulder, the other settling in his hair as he felt his fingers absentmindedly twirl some loose curls.

Michael hummed in return, his lips resting against Jeremy’s neck, before pressing a slow, soft kiss there. “Yeah, I do,” he said as he pulled back, staring at the boy he loved with as much love as he could muster.

Surely, he got his feelings across, as Jeremy’s face was flaring up while his eyes seemed to fill up with love as well. Reaching up with one hand, Michael gently caressed Jeremy’s oily cheek, running his skin along the freckles and acne, before tugging him down for a soft kiss.

Their lips pressed together, showing more so that they were there more so than any passion. It was intimate, and they let it linger for as long as they could, which was basically until Michael wanted to burrow his face back into the crook of Jeremy’s neck. He could feel the other’s body shake as he laughed, the melody filling his ears as the fingers in Michael’s hair, which had previously stopped, continue to mess with his bed-head.

He just sat there, drinking every little thing in: Michael savored the two of them, cuddled together under Jeremy’s covers as his curtains and blinds were shut, letting only a few slivers of light in, the gentle touches they gave one another and how Jeremy was sure to be careful of his neck (after what happened, he freaked out if anyone got too close to his neck, even Jeremy); they were finally done with all the SQUIP nonsense, though Michael would never forget Jeremiah. After all they had been through, he was glad to have met him, as well as everyone else from that other world.

Even if the SQUIP royally fucked up many things, they learned from it. They grew stronger, overcame everything, and became closer thanks to it (not just him and Jeremy, but their new friends too). It was a major douche, to be blunt, but it helped to bring many things to light, allowing them to become better people because of it. Plus, he and Jeremy finally managed to get together and, after all the bullshit that happened, it helped Jeremy in the end and aided in saving Jeremiah’s world, so that demonic tic-tac was good for _something_ at least.

In the end, though, Michael was just happy to have Jeremy, his Player Two, his best friend of now thirteen years, his _favowite pewson_ , beside him in bed. Things may have been fucked up, and they’d probably still be recovering from all of this nonsense for a while longer, but that was OK in Michael’s book because he got to power through it with the love of his life (fuck it, after everything they’d been through, he knew his definite feelings for Jeremy, he wasn’t afraid to admit it).

“Hey, Michael?” Jeremy’s voice, soft and curious, drew him out of his wandering thoughts, leading him to reply back with a questioning hum. “I…” Michael could practically hear the gears turning in his boyfriend’s head, though stayed quiet as he patiently waited, keeping his fidgeting fingers busy now by tracing patterns absentmindedly into the fabric across Jeremy’s lower back. “Thanks for sticking with me, even through all of this shit.”

Michael’s response was instantaneous and spontaneous, and when he looked back on what he said, years down the line with his happy future he had with this boy, figuring out what to say for his vows, he knew it fully encompassed how he felt about this stupidly amazing nerd he was lucky to love.

“All of my favorite memories are with you, Jere. You’ve stuck with me through thick and thin for me, happy to do so; I feel the same way with you. I love you, and I’m not afraid to say it. And, honestly, I’m not good with words, but what I’m trying to say is that you’re stuck with me as long as I’m stuck with you, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO, this whole fic really has been a crazy ride. I hope you enjoyed the wrap-up of Mike and Jeremiah, as well as getting to know that Richard's going to be alright. Plus, you all finally get to see the dream patch!!! I have that heart version, the "canon" version, as well as a circle version. I'm gonna link both down here in case the link didn't work for you! (I've been sitting on these for two months at least, it's been so hard for me to keep them from you guys until now.)  
> Heart/Canon version: https://ibb.co/6nq5QVS  
> Circle version: https://ibb.co/HXYLVgz
> 
> Also, I /do/ have another series in the works, but I'm actually outlining that one all out first. This fic had a very bare idea that stretched across my mind, but most of this was improvised when I had the muse to write. While this work is amazing, I want to do better for my next series, so it'll take longer. Plus, I want to take a little break on series so I can focus more on the one I am co-writing with my beta, "Sticky Spidey Situation." But do not worry, I have another fic series in the works, it'll come out in the upcoming months. 
> 
> Also, since I can, I want to thank Mikaela for all of her support. She's become such a good friend after becoming my beta, and if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have had the motivation to actually finish this series. I thank you, Mikaela, with all of my heart (since I know you always comment on the new chapter uploads, even if you already have read them over)!!! <3333 
> 
> Please let me know how you guys feel about the series! I want to hear all of your thoughts, please. It makes me smile and giddy to read them, and it is such a huge self-esteem boost??? So yeah, thank you all, I'll see you with my next fic (one hint: it's a modern fantasy ;3c), and love you all lots!!! <33333

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for reading this! I'm so excited and pumped about this fic! I don't know what my update schedule will be like. Please let me know you guys actually are interested with Kudos and comments please, it helps a lot and will help get the chapters out faster. c:  
> I'll also be putting a paragraph or two from the chapter in the beginning notes as a chapter preview, but this one is different so y'know.
> 
> Also, what should reflected Jeremy's name be in this since he'll obviously be important and in our Jeremy's place in his world? Feremy? 'Jeremy' for whenever he's written? :ooo


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